Dragon Hearts and How to Tame Them
by Kaiisan
Summary: MAINLY Wendy/Oc! With a Little romance for our other favourite Dragon Slayers! Joel is new and already a fine member of Fairy Tail, but what happens when the shadows of the past catch up with him? Can he stop them before they strike again? Each chapter will feature one-pair in the spot light, but all will be included! T cause I time-skipped and made them older. Ch8:Mission Arc/GaLe
1. Sky Dragon I

**Dragon Hearts And How To Win Them: Sky Dragon**

**Natsu/Lucy - Gajeel/Levi - Wendy/Oc**

**Welcome to my first Fairy Tale! ^^ **

**This story is fixated around three pairs: NatsuXLucy, GajeelXLevi and WendyXOc ^^ I'll be naming each chapter 'Sky Dragon' 'Fire Dragon' or 'Iron Dragon' to indicate which pair the chapter will mainly be about, though the other pairs will be in them. It IS a story, not a bunch of one-shots.**

**And just for you guys, I've spent hours on making the starting chapter really long! :D**

**Info:**

**Age: **

**Fried, Elfman, Gerrard, Gajeel, Cana: 24**

**Natsu, Gray, Erza, Mirajane: 23**

**Lucy, Juvia, Lisanna, Levi: 21**

**Joel(oc): 16**

**Wendy: 15**

**EDIT: Wendy lives in Fairy Hills! :S Sorry for any confusion!**

* * *

><p>The day Wendy fell in love began as a normal one. She was woken by the sun shining through her curtains and got dressed in a pair of white short shorts and a loose-fitting violet tank top that only showed a little of her cleavage. She sat at her vanity and brushed her long blue locks out of her face while watching herself in the mirror, pondering what style to put her hair in. She gave up and decided to just let it hang loose. She slipped out of her room and headed downstairs, and was greeted by Charle.<p>

"Morning Charle." She smiled, jumping the last step and hopping into the kitchen.

"Morning Wendy." Charle meowed, folding her arms under her sleeves.

The blue-haired Dragon Slayer opened the fridge and shuffled some stuff around, and finally reappeared with some Strawberry Joguhrt. She grabbed a spoon and jumped up on the counter to eat it.

"Sit at the table." Charle meowed. Wendy simply smiled and stuck her tongue out at the Eksheed. Charle sighed patiently. "And what plans do you have today?"

"Guild." Wendy replied immediately. Seriously, that place was her second home. She went there at every chance she got, to train, hang out, party, or swim if it was warm enough. And since 15 was the drinking age in the Fairy Tail world, she could drink with her friends too.

"Don't forget your guitar lessons." Charle reminded her. Wendy nodded excitedly; Mirajane was teaching her how to play guitar and sing. Wendy smiled, remembering how they made the deal.

_**Flashback**_

_"There's a stranger in my bed, There's a pounding my head, Glitter all over the room,Pink flamingos in the pool. I smell like a minibar, DJ's passed out in the yard, Barbie's on the barbeque; This a hickie or a bruise?~" Wendy skipped around the empty Guild at 9 in the morning on a sunny Saturday, singing her heart out seeing that the only people there were some unconscious mages from last night's party. Wendy has a little side-job at the guild as Mira-Jane's helper; she washed up dishes and glasses, used her DragonSlayer magic (lightly) to help move broken furniture off to one side, and sweeped up the Guild after parties. _

_"That's such a pretty little voice you have, Wendy!" Mire gushed, hearts in her eyes. Wendy squeaked and dropped the broom she was holding._

_"Don't tell anyone!" Wendy cried anime tears. _

_"Why not? You could perform here with me some nights, too, if you want."_

_"No no no!" Wendy gushed, waving her arms comically. "I only sing for fun, plus I need to know how to play some kinda instrument before I can perform!"_

_"How about I teach you guitar then?" Mira smiled kindly. Wendy just looked at her._

_"Really? You'd do that for me?"_

_"Yeah! It'll be fun! And I won't charge you anything." she grinned. "So what days would you like it?"_

_"Um," Wendy tilted her head, stroking her chin idly. "Every Saturday! At about this time, so that everyone's either not here or still alseep. Please?"_

_"Sure that's fine." Mire smiled._

_"Okay, give me some time to find a mission that'll pay for a guitar, and can you give me some details as to what kind I should get?"_

_"Of course!"_

* * *

><p>Wendy was sitting at one of the benches outside of the Guild by the front gate, singing softly to herself as she doodled on napkin, waiting for the post to come. It was also a part of her 'To-Do' to bring the Master his post. On her napkin, she'd doodled a handsome prince in shining armour and a beautiful princess that resembled the version of her she'd seen in Edolas; aka, future her.<p>

"Hey, is this Fairy Tail?"

Wendy jumped a little; how could she have possibly not heard this guy coming?

"Um, yes, are you new here?" Mentally she shook herself; everyone in Magnolia knew of Fairy Tail, so of course he wasn't from around here!

"Finally," the boy murmured, giving the huge building -and her- a tired smile. Wendy took this as an opportunity to check him out.

He was lean, about her age, with wavy purple-black hair that flops carelessly into his eyes, which made him flip his hair occasionally. Said eyes were grey, and if she peered closely they had tiny flicks of blue in them. He was wearing some loose-fitting worn jeans, a tight white shirt that was torn a little and a black trench coat that was a little worse for wear with mud trailing the bottom and torn seems. It was obvious that he'd been travelling for ages, and he was carrying a huge duffel bag on his back.

".."

"S-sorry?" Wendy blushed, trying not to stare at him anymore.

"I asked if you're a Mage."

"Ah, y-yes, I am. Wendy Marvell, Sky Dragon Slayer." she held out her hand politely, giving him a shy smile. It got bigger as this boy -about her age, she noticed- gaped at her, eyes wide.

"No way? Wow, I've heard all sorts about you. You're amazing." he grabbed her hand, and instead of shaking it, he turned it over and kissed the back of her hand. _Gentleman much?_ her mind sighed romantically.

"O-oh really? Thank you." she blushed bright red. He grinned at her.

"My name's Joel Williams. I have Manipulation Magic: Commanding Touch." Just as she was starting to glare at this, he smirked. "It doesn't work on people or mages, if that's what you're thinking. No, I can only control objects that I touch. Besides," he waved his hands in front her face, pointing out the silver rings on both index fingers. "I control the flow of my magic through these rings so I don't have to worry about accidently killing annoying people with butter knives." Wendy had to giggle at that.

"Well what is it that Fairy Tail can do for you, William-kun?" Wendy asked.

"Call me Joel. I'd like to see the Master about joining, if that's ok."

"Sure! Right this way." Wendy grabbed her napkin and scrunched it up, throwing it in the nearest bin. She pushed open the wide doors with ease.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Joel!"

* * *

><p>She spent most of her time accompanying him. Things ran by pretty smoothly, for the most part anyway. Makarov took him in to his office as she waited outside, and he returned with a warm smile, turning and moving his neck a little so that she could see the dark purple stamp on the back of his neck, just below the hairline. Then he was given the spare guest room in the Guild and got changed into a pair of dark emo-tight (though not <em>so<em> tight) jeans and a green polo shirt. She took him to meet all her friends. Mirajane instently went on Match-Maker mode and Wendy shut her up by exclaiming that Bisca and Alzack were actually sitting next to each other today. Lucy and Levy were happy with him and swooned a little at his gentleman-like personality as he kissed the back of their hands, like he'd done so with her.

She frowned. _What's this feeling in my chest?_ _He was just being polite._

Oh, now the other two Dragonslayers noticed.

Which means an all-out war is about to start if she didn't stop it first.

"Ah, these two are Natsu Dragoneel and Gajeel Redfox, Fire and Iron Dragon Slayers." Wendy told him with a worried look. Joel backed away from the two female Mages as the Dragonslayers stood beside them protectively, even though none of them were dating. They started threatening him, which made Gray insult Natsu about him picking on newbies to feel stronger, causing them to start fighting.

Juvia popped up on the sidelines in a blue cheerleader's outfit, cheering Gray on.

As she idly pointed out these people and stating facts about them Jet and Droy also started ganging up on Joel but then got into a (verbal) fight with Levy as Lucy watched on.

Cana wobbled over and started flirting, belched in a very unladylike manner and collapsed on the table nearby.

Gajeel was knocked out of the way by her and was just about to kick the table she slept on when Elfman showed up from nowhere screaming "ITS NOT MANLY TO KICK AN UNCONSCIOUS WOMAN!" and they started fighting, with other locals getting involved.

Wendy waved to Charle who flew in with Happy and Pantherlily. Joel looked ready to faint at all the madness that was happening but luckily managed to keep up. Wendy took him to the safety of the bar and continued pointing out significant people; Gildarts laughing and drinking with Makarov and Macau; Mirajane and her sister Lisanna; Bixlow, Evergreen and Fried; oh, and Romeo, who'd just walked over to them, glaring daggers at Joel. Romeo had changed a lot in the past few years, especially after Wendy politely declined his -several- attempts in asking her out.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled.

"Joel Williams, nice to meet you." Joel replied calmly. He held out his hand for Romeo to shake. Said teen brushed past it and walked up to Wendy.

"Wanna hang out later?" he asked airily, making Joel smirk faintly. Acting tough around the guy but still nervous infront of girls...

"Sorry, I have guitar practice later." Wendy smiled sadly. Though secretly, she was glad.

"There's guitar lessons here?" Joel asked.

"Well, I'm currently the only one learning, but Mirajane's a pro and often sings for us here at the Guild. Then there's Gajeel, but you really, honestly don't want to know about that..."

Joel laughed. Wendy managed a giggle. Romeo went red with fury and stromed away, though neither noticed.

"Sounds interesting. I play too. Maybe I could hear you sometime?" Joel smiled shyly. Wendy felt the heat in her cheeks rising as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I dunno, I've only ever played infront of Charle and Mirajane..." she murmured.

"Hey you don't have to, it was just a thought." he chuckled. Suddenly he yawned and stretched, wincing at his sore muscles and injuries.

"Oh! Are you hurt?" Wendy asked in a worried tone.

"It's nothing, I got attacked by a group of theives once on the way in to Magnolia and one cut hasn't fully healed up, but I'm fi-"

"Let me help you!" Wendy ordered determindly, pulling him off the barstool and dragging him to his temporary room. She closed the door and whirled on him. "Show me the injury." she told him in a firm tone. It was only when he sighed and started pulling his shirt off that she realised what she's been saying.

_Oh God oh God oh God, he's taking his shirt off, I wonder if he's fit, does he have a sixpack like Natsu or Gray? Ooh, that'd be nice. Shut up, Wendy, snap out of it-_

"This one here."

Wendy started a little but saw him standing with his side to her and pointing to a dagger wound between his shoulder blades; someone must've tried to sneak up on him. As she took a good look, she noticed a thin scar, the length of her hand at least, from above his heart to his left shoulder and round to the top of his shoulder blade.

_That scar looks painful, I wonder how he got that..._

Out loud, she said, "Ouch. It does look a little infected." She walked up and inspected it, though she could sense Joel tensing seeing as she was so close that her breath tickled his skin. Because of his height she was head-on with the cut. She gently carressed the skin around the inflamed area, noting how Joel sucked in his breath a little when it hurt.

She started the healing process then; Joel must've been in so much pain, she wanted it to stop right away.

"That feels nice." Joel mumbled under his breath and looking over his shoulder at her. She smiled shyly at him before concentrating on healing, totally missing his genuine smile.

When she finished she clapped her hands together, and he turned and hugged her. She squeaked in surprise; not just at the gesture, but because he was still shirtless and the feel of his toned, athletic body against hers was simply amazing. She almost let out a whine of disappointment when he let her go suddenly, like he was embarrassed.

"O-oh, sorry, I dunno what I was thinking." he blushed, making him look adorable.

"It's okay, I love hugs." she giggled, also bright red. He let out a little sigh off relief.

"That's good then. I don't want to be labelled a pervert on my first day." he muttered, making her laugh. "Thanks by the way."

"It's no problem."

Suddenly they could hear Mirajane calling for her.

"Wendy~! Wendy~! Time for our lesson! Where are you- Ah! There you are!" Mirajane burst in on them, took one look at Wendy's blushing face and Joel's shirtless body and _grinned._ Uh Oh.

"Mirajane, I don't care what you think this is, cause it isn't!" Wendy shrieked.

"What is it that I'm thinking?" Mira smiled; to Joel or anyone who didn't know her she looked innocent, but Mira was never, ever innocent.

"You know exactly." Wendy growled, but then smirked. "But you're not going to tell anyone because I have something I can use against you."

"What would that be?"

"Oh, you remember that party last week," Wendy grinned evilly. "Let's just say, you and Fried got better acquainted, and i have evidence."

Mirajane's face paled a little and her demon smirk appeared. "Looks like you are learning after all. Very well, this remains a secret. Come on, your guitar waits!"

As soon as Mirajane left Wendy sighed. "That woman will be the death of me one day." she sighed. She glanced at Joel's amused face. "What?"

"I know what she was thinking." he laughed. Wendy turned around, hiding her face. "Hey," he whirled her around again, laughing. "We're just met right? Just friends."

She nodded a little, but felt a small tug on her heart. _Just friends?_ her heart whined. _Stop thinking like that! You met the guy only a few hours ago!_

Joel yawned, waking her from her trance. "Tired?" she asked him. He nodded sleepily.

"I thinking I'm just gonna nap." Joel mutted, flopping unceremoniously onto the bed, faking some snores.

"Well then I'll see you around the Guild from now on then." Wendy smiled happily. "Some words of warning: don't get Levi drunk, don't accept fights from Natsu or Gajeel, don't interrupt Erza when she's eating her cake, and never, _ever_, trust Mirajane with _any_ type of secret." she shivered a little.

He laughed and waved as she left his room, closing the door and sighing a little. She skipped down the hall, past the two male Dragon Slayers who had been listening in on their conversation, past the Stellar Spirit Mage, the Solid Script Mage, the Re-Quip Mage and a couple others that Mirajane dragged over. She hummed the song she was learning and quietly shut the door to the back room behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>06.05.12: Sorry people! I edited this! :x Just thought I'd clear things up and add a small detail...<strong>


	2. Sky Dragon II

**Thanks to a few tips, I've decided to make this chapter another Sky Dragon chapter! :) Don't fret, I'm making sure to try and include all three pairs :)**

**This chapter will mainly revolve around Joel, to see him settle, and maybe, flash a bit of his past around! :)**

**And, obviously, this story takes place before the S-Trials Timeskip thing came up, so yeah :P**

* * *

><p>So this is Fairy Tail's true nature.<p>

A bunch of powerful mages feared and respected throughout all of Fiore on the outside, a slightly dysfunctional, unstable family of loyal misfits on the inside.

I had to smile at that.

_Reminds me of-_

No, don't think about that now.

Retreating back from the window, where I'd watched the girls played pool volleyball against the boys out in the back, I yawned and stretched my arms above my head; sighing contentedly as I felt the familiar pops and cracks, I silently thanked that Wendy girl for the umpteenth time that morning.

Glancing down at my body I grimaced at the grime and sweat. After Wendy'd left I'd been bombarded with questions by Team Natsu so by the time they'd left all I wanted to do was sleep.

_[Flashback]_

_Promptly after Wendy had shut his door and left him to slowly drift asleep, his door burst open, causing it to almost fly off of its hinges._

_"We got some questions for you!" Natsu exclaimed, pointing dramatically at the dark-haired Manipulation Mage._

_"Okay..." Joel sweatdropped._

_Gray kicked Natsu out of the doorway so that the rest of the team could cramp into his room._

_"Out of the way, Flame Head!" he yelled._

_"Shut up Snowflake!"_

_"You wanna go?"_

_"My flame will take you on!"_

_WHACK._

_"Behave!" Erza scolded. The two mages gulped and put their arms around each other._

_"Y-yes M'am!"_

_Joel's eyebrow raised. Titania certainly put them in their place._

_"Now then, Joel, tell us about yourself." Erza took a sat on the chair by the desk and motioned for the other three to sit as well; they did, though Natsu and Gray had to sit on the floor whereas Lucy sat next to him on the bed._

_"Well, I'm Joel Williams, I'm 16 and I've been travelling through and around Fiore for about four years now. I have manipulation magic, I can control any object I touch and in some cases even change its form. That is my primary magic source, though I'm also learning air manipulation and other small magics here and there; whatever I picked up along my journey, I guess."_

_Erza studied him as he talked, taking in everything about him and thus making him feel quite nervous._

_"And what brings you to Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked with a smile, distracting him from Erza's stare. _

_"Well, no matter where I'd go, Fairy Tail was all the talk. Good and bad, and I loved every story I heard. It must be like a great big family here, am I right?"_

_"Yeah, everyone in Fairy Tail are nakama!" Lucy grinned._

_"I'm glad then," said Joel with a smile._

_[End]  
><em>

Grabbing the towel that was given to me, I went into my own personal shower room and washed quickly.

It certainly feels good to be clean!

After turning the shower off and drying my body and hair, I wiped the mirror to get rid of condensation and took a look at my face.

My hair was wavy from being wet, and it hung further in my eyes than usual. My jawline had a hint of stubble to it. _Meh, shave tomorrow._ I wrapped the towel around my waist and quickly brushed my teeth.

Returning to my room - which consisted of cream-coloured walls, wooden floorboards covered in matching rugs, a bed, a desk and chair, a chest of drawers for my clothes and lots of shelving - I opened a drawer and pulled out my attire for the day: boxers, white tank top, green sleeveless hoodie and a pair of jeans that were slightly too big for me, so I tightened them with my accessories belt that had little pockets and gadgets attached. I then pulled on my worn old combat boots and ran a hand through my hair.

_Knock Knock._

"Who is it?" I called, shutting the drawers.

"It's Romeo." Came the cold reply. Surprised, I went and opened the door.

Romeo Conbolt, about 11 years old, developing magic known as Rainbow Fire, or something along those lines. I didn't really pay much attention that time as I was listening to Wendy.

"What's up, dude?" I greeted him with a wave, turning back into my room and jestering that he could come in. He stayed leaning against the door frame. Oh well.

"You."

"Me?" I jerked my thumb at myself.

"Yeah. You only just got here and everyone's talking about you. It's all: _'That Williams guy, he looks quite strong',_ or: _'That new guy Joel is so cute! Shame he's too young for me!'" _ Romeo gave me a mocking glare as I felt my face heat up at the last one.

"Don't they have better things to talk about?" I asked. Tired from standing, I leaned back on my desk casually.

Romeo shrugged. "New members are always the news." He stopped leaning against the door and slowly made his way over to me. His glare was fueled with hate and his expression one of disgust. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I want to see what's so special about you that makes Wendy talk about you non-stop!"

"Wendy talks about me?" I repeated stupidly.

"Hell yeah she does!" Romeo all but shouted. "It's driving me crazy! She's not even known you for a whole day and she already likes you more than me!"

In his fury, he swung a fist at my face, though due to his height it didn't even reach my shoulder. I caught his fist in my hand, halting all movement. Romeo froze, tensing as he waited for my reaction.

My eyes were shadowed as I spoke. "I don't have any control over who she talks about."

My voice was monotone, and from the looks of it, it scared the poor boy that it lacked any emotion whatsoever.

"I don't control who she likes."

"I don't control your emotions, either."

"But I _do_ control every object in this room."

Romeo looked up in shock, and his eyes widened.

The whole room had changed.

The rugs that were previously on the floor had coiled up so tight they turned into ropes and whips; the chest of drawers, the bed and varied objects from the shelves were hovering around the boy, some moulded into shapes of weapons, the other bigger objects remained the same.

I could feel him trembling weakly, knowing that I'd caught him by surprise, he wouldn't try and attack me since I was fully prepared and practically waiting. I let his fist drop and cleared a path out of my room.

"Now, if you could _be so kind as to_ get out, before I do something I _might_ regret later." My mouth twitched upwards into a sadistic smile.

Romeo nodded nervously, though his eyes still glinted with hate. He turned and made his way out of the room. Very quickly, might I add.

I sighed and let the objects return to normal.

Rubbing my hand over my face, I groaned.

"Great going, doofus. Your first day at the Guild of your dreams hasn't even started and you've already made a rival."

I paused.

_Rival? For what?  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Joel, come join us!"<p>

The sound of a familiar voice brought a smile to my face as I joined Wendy with Team Natsu.

"Mornin' everyone." I greeted.

"Morning!"

"Did you sleep well Joel-kun?" Erza asked him sternly, as if about to tell him off if he didn't.

"I did, thank you. Wendy's healing power helped a lot." I gave the bluenette a thankful grin, which she returned, albeit shyly.

"Were you injured?" Lucy gasped.

"Yeah, only a little though. Someone came up behind me and caught me by surprise."

"Well, at least you're okay." Lucy shrugged, making me sweatdrop. The kinds of injuries people get here must be deadly serious ones if getting stabbed in the back can be considered unimportant.

"Joel! Fight me!" Natsu demanded, slamming his fists on the table.

"No thanks..." I declined.

"It's okay to be scared! Just give it a try!" Natsu continued.

"Hey look, Gray's over there, doesn't he owe you something?" Lucy quickly intervened.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Thanks Luce! GRAY, GET OVER HERE, YOU OWE ME SOMETHING!"

"WHAT THE HELL? I DON'T OWE YOU ANYTHING!"

"YOU DO OWE ME SOMETHING, ICEBRAIN!"

"WHAT IS IT THEN!"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW!"

"FLAME-BRAINED IDIOT!"

"SAY THAT AGAIN!"

"FLAME-BRAINED IDIOT!"

The two started throwing their magic at each other, as well as their fists. Cana started rolling out the usual bets: who will get the upper hand of the fight before Erza beats the crap out the both of them. As you can guess, they never finish their fights themselves.

"That was close." Lucy sighed. She gave me a sympathetic smile. "You'll have to fight with him sometime though."

"Yeah, I'll prepare for it until then." I chuckled at the two Mage's antics. Gray was now down to his boxers and Natsu was covered in flames. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Sadly, yes." sighed Lucy with a smile, her eyes never leaving the pink-haired dragon slayer.

"You don't sound too sad about it." I smirked at her. Lucy's cheeks pinked faintly.

"I-i-it's not like I like watching them fight!" she protested, making Erza, Wendy and I chuckle.

"Erza-san, isn't it time to stop them yet?" Wendy asked.

"Let Joel do it."

"What?" Wendy and Lucy gasped at the same time.

"I would like Joel to demonstrate his abilities." said Erza in a calm voice. She took a bite of cake.

"Ah, I guess I have no choice then?" I scratched the back of my head. "Then maybe you could give me a tip before I risk my life?"

"Knock them out." All three girls replied instantly.

"O-ok." I chuckled and stood, heading for the ice and fire duo. I made sure to stay a safe distance away though.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my rings to my mouth and whispered, "Air-Touch Command: Trap!" I blew on my rings and released a silvery-gold thread of air towards Gray and Natsu, who'd launched powerful attacks against each other and were about to be launched away from each other, only to suddenly be contained inside a see-through wall of air. Their clothes touched the walls.

"Huh?" questioned Natsu.

"What the-" Gray grumbled.

"Air-Touch Command: Crush!"

Suddenly, the room they found themselves enclosed in shrunk rapidly, sending the two Mages crashing head-first into each other and promptly blacking out.

I felt all eyes turn to me.

"Hey!"

"How did you do that?"

"Is this your magic?"

Cana made her way up to me and slapped my shoulder drunkenly. "Whoooooo says you can sss-stop the fight eh? There were bets goin' onn!"

"Um, Erza?" I told them. They accepted the answer undoubtedly. When Erza tells you to do it, you get it done, no questions.

* * *

><p>"How did you like your first official day at Fairy Tail, Joel?" Wendy smiled from her place next to me as I walked her home. Yes, I am a gentleman.<p>

"It was amazing! I can't believe how awesome it was!" Ok, I sounded like a little kid who went to amusement park. Who cares? Fairy Tail is just THAT awesome!

"I'm glad you've settled in so well," Wendy nodded, before going quiet. I noticed that she looked slightly confused, or maybe worried was the right word.

"You ok?"

"Huh, um, y-yeah." came the stuttered reply. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's nothing I can't help you with?"

"No, really, it's fine."

"Double double sure with a cherry on top?"

Wendy giggled. "Fine - Charle's going to tell me off because I've stayed out longer than my curfew allows."

"Oh, well I'll sort that out for you." We reached her door, and before Wendy could even reach her keys it swung open and an unhappy looking Exceed floated in the way.

"Charle, let me explain, please don't be-"

"Explain already."

"W-well, you see it's cause of-"

"The fault was entirely mine, Charle-san."

Wendy stared at me in surprise as I bowed formally to the cream-coloured Exceed.

"You see today was my first full day at the Guild and I was feeling quite nervous about it; Wendy-san was very kind to me and spared me some of her time to accompany me. I'm very sorry to have have caused inconveniences."

I stayed in a bowed position until I heard Charle sigh.

"Very well, apology accepted - but I expect her home by 9:30 on weekdays, 10 on weekends, are we clear?" Charle's mew allowed no options.

"Very, Charle-san." Charle _hmmph_ed and flew inside. Wendy stood in the door way as I straightened up.

"Thank you." She whispered, a small smile gracing her face as she blushed. "For just now and for bringing me home as well."

"No problem at all, Wendy-san." I grinned, taking her hand and kissing the back of it; just like I did when we first met.

As I let go, I was very surprised to find her suddenly in my arms, wrapping her arms around my waist in a quick hug. I only had time to squeeze her back briefly before she backed away, stammering a quick "Good night!" before shutting the door. I saw her blush before she could hide it, though.

When she'd hugged me, the memory of Romeo's words rang through my head.

_"She's not even known you for a whole day and she already likes you more than me!"_

Nah. Not possible.

...

Heading back to the Guild, a small frown appeared on my face. If Wendy did like me, is that why Romeo hates me - because he's jealous? As if Wendy would like me.

Why would she?

_Because she doesn't know your past._


	3. Fire Dragon I

**THANK YOU!**** for the reviews I've gotten so far! Thanks! ^^**

**Here's the long awaited Fire Dragon I! :D**

**Info:**

**Age: **

**Fried, Mirajane, Gerrard, Gajeel: 23**

**Erza, Mirajane:22**

**Natsu, Gray: 21**

**Lucy, Juvia, Lisanna, Levi: 20**

**Joel(oc): 16**

**Wendy: 15**

**ALSO! Seeing as this is an AU-ish kinda time skip, Romeo is 12, almost 13, even though he'd actually be 9 if this was a proper 3-year timeskip. But I just needed to bump up his age to make it more compatible. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Stupid Ice-Brain." Natsu muttered, laying flat-out on Lucy's bed while waiting for said Mage to return home. His left eye was was slightly swollen and his lip was cut but apart from that he was fine. "Because of him I couldn't start a fight with the new guy. Hope Wendy's ok, cause if she isn't that kid's gonna get his ass whooped..." he growled.<p>

Happy sat next to him and munched his fish.

There was a jangle of keys sliding into the lock and Lucy walked in. She shrieked in surprise (_again_) as she spotted the familiar duo.

"Natsu! What the hell?"

"Hiya Luce."

"Why is it you're always around here? Don't you have your own house?"

"I like your place better."

Lucy blushed a little and sighed. Then she took a good look at his face and frowned. "You and Gray have been taking your fights way too seriously nowadays."

"But its his fault!" Natsu whined.

"You always say that, Natsu," Lucy scolded. "yet you're the one who mostly starts the fights."

"Hmph." Natsu frowned and folded his arms as he sat up, looking out of the window. Lucy just shook her head and went into the kitchen, grabbing a cloth and an ice-pack from the freezer. She wrapped up the pack and handed it to him.

"Don't melt it straight away." she warned him, wagging a finger at him. He nodded sulkily and she felt confident enough to leave him alone for a minute while she went and got changed (after Natsu and Gray woke up it flared into another massive brawl, resulting in food fights, thrown drinks, and _-shudder-_, Erza's beloved cake falling on the floor. Lucy only got a little on her so she helped clear up afterwards).

She returned wearing her 'lazy-only-for-indoors' clothes: an extra-large sweater that slid off one of her shoulders and a pair of plain grey jogging bottoms. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting it cascade down her shoulders.

Normally, when she had guests, she'd dress up a little more, but this was just Natsu.

Casting a glance at the Fire Dragon Slayer, she noticed him staring at her openly. She fidgeted under his gaze and blushed.

"N-Natsu?"

"Huh?" Natsu snapped out of it at the sound of her voice and looked anywhere - but at her.

She put her hands on her hips.

"Is there something wrong with the way I look?" she asked him, getting closer.

"Uhh..." Natsu shifted uncomfortably as she got nearer.

Once she was right in his face, he threw the melted ice pack at her, and while she was distracted, he leaped up and opened the window.

"Oh gee look at the time looks like I gotta go see ya at the Guild sometime bye bye!" he called over his shoulder as he jumped out.

Lucy took a look at Happy, who shrugged, also clueless.

"Maybe he liiiiiikes you!" Happy purred.

"As if." Lucy shook her head, sighing and shutting the window. Before it completely shut though, Happy flew through.

"You liiiiiiike him!" he giggled.

"Shut up, stupid blue cat!" She protested.

Lucy resisted the urge to call Saggitarus and have him shoot the furball that was flying away, and instead took a bath before going to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>[later in the week]<strong>

Fridays at the guild meant only one thing: Party!

Lucy swung the Guild doors open to see the party already in full swing at only 8pm.

She came wearing a red tartan mini skirt, a black leather belt that held her whip and keys, a plain white tank top under a stylishly ripped-up, off-shoulders black shirt that had a dark red skull on it. Her hair was in two pigtails on the sides of her head and her make-up was darker around than eyes than usual, emphasizing them. She also had black -ripped- tights on and knee-high black converses.

The theme of the party was punk/goth/emo, by the way. You had to come dressed as one of the styles or a little of them all.

Everyone looked rather stylish; Erza was wearing a tight leather jumpsuit with a revealing front and her hair was surprisingly short and fauxhawk-styled; MiraJane wore a floor-length, strapless black lace dress with several layers of netting and cloth around the skirt, black eyeshadow and lipstick and her hair was held up with a lot of hairspray; Makarov wore black clothes and a leather jacket with sunglasses. All in all, everyone looked really good.

The only one who didn't dress up was Gajeel, who could be seen wearing his usual attire and fitting in rather splendedly.

"Lu-chan!" Lucy's face brightened as she saw her friend. Levi ran up to her and dragged her to a table. She was wearing a black corset top that pushed up what little cleavage she had, very tiny black daisy dukes, fingerless, elbow-length fishnet gloves and fishnet socks up to her mid thighs. She also wore some metal chains from hooks on her corset and other metal accessories.

"I think a certain someone is very appreciative," Lucy nudged Levi and tilted her head towards a certain Iron Dragon Slayer who was watching the blue-haired girl from the corner of his eye.

Levi gasped and blushed, slapping her friend's arm playfully.

At the table sat Natsu, Happy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Charle and Joel. Lucy was amazed at how well the guys looked; she blushed as she ran her gaze over them.

Natsu wore a dog collar, a black shirt with a white skull and crossbones design on it, and some dark jeans and trainers. His hair was tamed into punk-like spikes. Gray had (with some persuasion to keep on) a black tank top and black pants. Joel stole the limelight though, wearing emo-tight black jeans with lots of chains, black combat boots, a grey t-shirt with a long-sleeved fishnet/mesh shirt underneath and a black hoodie with the sleeves ripped off. His hair had been gelled into a mohawk and there was a subtle hint of black eyeliner around his eyes. He too had fingerless gloves on, plus several colourful armbands.

"You guys look good," Lucy smiled.

"You look pretty too Lucy-chan!" Wendy smiled. She was wearing a very simple yet cute gothic lolita dress: puffy, short sleeves, tight around the bust and waist and with black and white skirts down to just above her knees, the hem of the black skirt was pulled up to reveal more of the white skirt on the left side and held in place with a white bow that matched the white lace design on her bust. **(link to picture on my profile!)**

She sat and they exchanged drinks and discussed recent events. Eventually, Natsu and Gray started a fight, with escalated into a bar fight, with made everyone join in. For the time being, everyone was too drunk to care.

* * *

><p><strong>[with Joel and Wendy]<strong>

Wendy and Joel had thought it'd be safer if they moved to one of the corners to watch the party. Unfortunately for them, that corner was the bar. After all, no one dared to start a fight with MiraJane.

"On the house," Mira smiled as she set two beers on the counter in front of them.

Wendy took hers and sipped appreciatively; after all, she had a very high alcohol tolerance and hardly drank anyway.

Joel just stared at his for a moment with a blank look on his face. Then he snapped out of it and pushed it back to Mira.

"Thanks but... I don't drink." he chuckled nervously. There was a crashing noise and the whole Guild went silent.

Everyone was paused mid-action and staring at Joel with dark auras.

"A man needs to drink!" Elfman shouted.

"Can't ye hold yur liqour boyy?" Cana slurred.

"Go on!"

"He's just a little boy!"

"Aw, you want some juice little boy?"

Joel scowled. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to stay sane!" he grumbled, though sadly for him everyone was intoxicated and no longer paying attention, instead choosing to dance around him and chant 'Little Boy' and 'Orange Juice' around him. It annoyed him to no end, especially when Mira set a glass of juice next to his beer and even patted his spikey mohawk. Wendy's giggle was the last straw.

"THAT'S IT!" he yelled, grabbing the beer and making everyone pause in their antics. "I apologise in advance, but I warned you!" With that, he took the beer and downed the whole thing at once. Despite the look of disgust on his face he seemed to be fine. All the mages cheered and clapped him on the back.

Mira passed him a second one, and, after being rallied into it, he gulped that down at once too.

No one knew that this would cause such an disasterous outcome.

* * *

><p>Another couple of beers later, his cheeks were rosy red and his eyes were drooping a little.<p>

"I don't think you can handle your beer very well," Wendy giggled, still sipping her drink, though she was on her fifth now. Her hair had been braided at the start of the party but it'd fallen loose throughout the party.

Joel lifted his head up from the bar and clutched it, grinning wildly. "Fuuuuuun timessss." he slurred. He noticed her hair and wriggled closer, to the point where he was only two hands away from her face and started tugging her hair and pulling it out of its braid.

"Hey, what-" Wendy started to complain but squeaked as Joel placed a finger on her lips.

"Sshh," his eyes were comically wide and serious. She nodded and he started playing with her hair.

He stood and moved so that he was slightly behind her and parting her hair into three. Despite being drunk, his fingers moved with practiced ease, braiding her hair from the left side across and over her right shoulder. As he moved back around in front of her to finish up the braid, Wendy spoke up.

"You're very good at doing girls hair, Joel."

"Mhm, got a sister." he mumbled, concentrating on her hair still. Wendy felt insanely curious.

"Really? A younger or older one?"

"Mhmm, olderrr. She really bossy too." He cursed under his breath as he spotted a loose strand and unravelled some of the braid to include it.

"Where is she now?"

"Back home with the rest. She the boss lady and stuff."

Wendy felt the need to question him about what he meant, but suddenly he was finished with her hair because he sat back and drank some of his beer.

"When we was kids, no one touch her hair. Only her and me." he grinned proudly.

"What about now?" she asked carefully. Joel frowned, gripping his glass tightly. Suddenly Wendy felt the air around him change, a new side of Joel appearing.

"She hates me." he growled, glaring at his drink.

"I don't think she could. You're a really nice person." Wendy tried to sound convincing but Joel was shaking his head, muttering 'no' under his breath and slowly getting louder.

"No, no, no! She HATES me! EVERYONE HATES ME! I LEFT AND EVERYONE HATES ME!" he screamed, throwing his glass at the wall where it smashed into pieces and caught everyone's attention.

Joel had stood up and moved away from Wendy, trying in vain to suppress his dark emotions.

Natsu and Gray tried to call him down but before they could even reached him he sent a table in their direction with his magic.

"Don't come near me! Everyone hates me! I abandoned everyone! For that small chance that-!" his voice, which was raw with self-loathing, suddenly broke off as he collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

Moving slowly, Lucy, Erza and Wendy moved towards the obviously troubled teen. As Lucy got nearer she heard him whispering under his breath.

"Why do I hurt people? Why am I bad? Why do I make people hate me? Why did she do this to me?"

Lucy didn't know who 'she' was, but she had hell to pay. Who in their right minds would do something that bad that'd cause such emotional trauma?

Erza easily lifted the teen boy with one hand under his arm, and pulled him to his feet. He swayed but stayed standing, no longer crying his eyes out but rather looking around like a terrified puppy.

"Ah, you all hate me," his voice was quiet and reserved, like he had accepted fate. "I'll go pack now, you all hate me. Sorry I left, sorry I left. Have to go now." He turned and stumbled his way through the door way that took him down the hall to his room, leaving silence in his wake.

"Ah, we really shouldn't have made him drink." one of the male mages rubbed the back of his neck remorsefully.

"You guys didn't know he'd turn out like that." Wendy spoke up, drawing all eyes on her. She looked guilty. "Besides, I was the one to bring up his past. It seems like whatever happened to him still frightens him." She gave a small, sad smile. "So I'll go take care of him, okay?" With that she got up and dashed down the hall to Joel's room.

* * *

><p><strong>[with Natsu and Lucy]<strong>

"Poor kid," Lucy sighed, chin in her palm with her elbow resting on the table.

"Mm," Natsu groaned in response, keeping his head on the table. As per usual, he'd had a bit too much to drink and had a massive headache, to the point where he couldn't even pick a fight with Gray anymore (not that they could, Gray's pretty out of it too..).

"It's 2am Natsu, go home already." Lucy shoved his shoulder gently.

"I don't feel like moving. You go home."

"Natsuuu, I know that if I go home you'll just fall asleep here."

"That's fine then."

"That, or you get lost outside and end up in some dark alley alone with hungry dogs coming to feed off of your corpse...hic...okay, no more beer for me." Lucy set her glass down and gazed at her pink haired partner.

"Come on, I'll take you home," Lucy got up with a sigh and heaved the dragon slayer to his feet as he swayed.

She pulled his arm over her shoulders and dragged him out of Fairy Tail, waving to Gajeel (who had a blushing Levy attempting to drag him home by one arm) and stepping out into the night.

She contemplated whether or not she should stumble along with Natsu all the way to his house and then alone home or, she decided with a resigned sigh, the noticably easier decision to just take him to her house and let him sleep on the couch, with the risk that he would sleep-walk his way into her bed.

All of a sudden Natsu's breathing deepend and he fell asleep against her, sending her staggering with a faint 'Kyaa!" off to the side of the path. Coincidently it was towards her house, so at least they didn't end up too far from the apartment while she'd daydreamed.

"Natsuuu, I can't carry all of you...wake uuuup." Lucy slapped the back of his head a couple of times.

"Nnngh, lemme sleep Luigi."

"My name's Lucy! Get it right for once."

"Lemme sleep."

"When we get home. Er, my home, that is." Lucy blushed. Natsu had stayed over so many days and nights that she'd begun to think of it as _their_ home, not _hers._ Of course, the guy obviously no intention of being that intimate with the Celestial Mage, so she could soon forget about that idea.

She sighed; she'd recently admitted to herself that she did, in fact, like the rose-haired, fire-breathing idiot as more than just a team- and guildmate.

Drunk Natsu stirred and lifted his head, smiling a little at the blonde.

"Youuu're really pwetty when you dress like dat." he slurred, completing the statement with a loud belch and a groan.

Despite how gross that was, Lucy surprised herself by blushing.

"I-i-diot!"

* * *

><p><strong>There's a new poll up on my profile, please have a look at it! :)<strong>


	4. Iron Dragon I

**I noticed the I had Mirajane aged twice ;-; MiraJane is 23 and Elfman is 22!**

**Also, this so far my longest chapter! :D 24 KB - over 4'000 words! That's a LOT for me :D**

**06.0512: I edited chapter one, not by much but it was necessary. :) Next chapter is in the works by the way! **

* * *

><p><strong>Gajeel POV<strong>

_Fuck, my head. _

Exactly how many pints of beer did I have last night? Thirty?

I rubbed my face and groaned.

It was then I noticed that I was sleeping in my own bed.

_How the hell did I get here?_

Giving myself a moment to wake up, I slowly got up and waited for the world to stop spinning, before climbing out of bed and stumbling to the bathroom for a well-needed piss and wash-up.

I splashed some water on my face and rubbed my eyes again.

_I look like shit._

Shrugging, I walked out into my small, cozy living room only to be greeted with a surprise.

Sprawled on her side, Levi slept peacefully with a small smile gracing her lips.

A short, distorted memory of being half-dragged, half-carried out of the Guild popped into mind.

Then I noticed that I was openly staring at her all-too-revealing outfit. In fact, it looked as though her chest was about to burst from that corset. I shook my head violently.

"Damn, shorty, cover up a bit more." Grumbling, I grabbed the blanket I kept hanging over the back of the sofa and draped it over her, more for my sake then hers. I then very quickly left the room and into the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.

It seems like the smell of coffee and toast woke her up, because a barely audiable groan reached my senses. I poured two big mugs and set them down on the dining table across from my kitchen counters. The toaster sprung and I grabbed the toast out of the air, setting it on a chipped plate and sat it down next to one of the mugs. For myself I took a sheet of iron the size of a dinner plate and an inch thick from the cupboard and took a bite.

Another moan and some shuffling, and soon Levi joined me, covered in my blanket.

"Morning sunshine," I greeted in a overly-sweet voice, smirking as she clutched her head.

"Shut it, Gajeel." Levi snapped, sitting and gulping down her coffee like water.

_This is why I love getting drunk,_ I concluded. _I get to drink, my favourite little Bookworm drags me home, and in the morning I'm presented with Levi's foul morning mood._

As you can guess, Levi's not a morning person, especially after a party.

Not that she drinks, it's the lack of sleep.

God forbid, DON'T LET HER DRINK!

I chuckled and munched on iron in a similar way to Levi with her toast.

"What?" she snapped irritably.

"Nothing, Bookworm." I shook my head as Levi's brighter, normal personality returned with every gulp of coffee.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Levi asked, munching on her second piece of toast.

"Apart from you dragging me home, which is an incredible feat on its own, no. Why, Shorty, what'd I do now?"

Levi swirled the rest of her coffee around and gulped it down. "Nothing."

I raised an eyebrow but decided not to question her.

"You look like shit, by the way." Levi beamed happily at him, a totally innocent smile plastered on her face.

* * *

><p>The moment Joel gained consciousness, he was immediately overwhelmed with nausea. So he was thankful that the moment he sat up a sick bowl was shoved into his hands as he heaved up the contents of his stomach.<p>

When he was done, he shakily passed it to whoever gave it to him without looking up, feeling incredibly guilty and ashamed. He could recall everything that happened last night.

"Joel?"

His head snapped up, surprised to see none other than Wendy sitting on a chair next to her bed. She passed him a glass of water and he gulped it greedily to get rid of the sour taste in his mouth, stealing glances at her every few seconds.

Her eyes were tired yet bright with concern and she looked as though she'd only slept a few hours. She'd changed from the dress into one of Mira's spare nightgowns; it was knee-length, pale pink in colour and very loose on the young teen, shown by the one annyoing strap that consistently fell off her shoulder. She still had her bra on under neath though, so no indecent exposure. Though her change of clothes wasn't what surprised him.

Her hair was still in a braid.

He passed her the empty glass and ran a hand through his hair; it was messy and tangled from the hair spray and gel but he couldn't find the energy to get up and wash.

A low grown emitted from his throat before he could stop it and he averted his gaze to the ceiling as he flopped back down on his bed.

"...are you feeling better?" Wendy's tentative question broke the small silence that surrounded them, though he only answered her with a nod. She made an 'ah' noise and they fell silent again.

Musing over his thoughts and memories of last night, he figured he should probably apologize. After all, she'd only asked him about his sister and then he lashed out at her like a monster.

He hadn't realized that the door to his room had opened and they were joined by Erza and Makarov; Erza's face stoic and carefully neutral, Makarov with a hint of sorrow.

Releasing a sigh, Joel fisted his bedsheets and managed to speak. "I'm sorry, Wendy-san. I really didn't mean to verbally attack you in that manner, or to hurt your feelings with my actions. Even if it was a sensitive topic I had no right to yell at you and make you sad...I'm going to go apologize to Gray-kun and Natsu-kun later too, and the others. I owe everyone an apology. Afterwards I guess I'd better pack my bags-"

"Now why would that be?" Makarov interrupted, startling the boy. "You've done nothing seriously wrong, boy. You've said you're sorry and that's that. Don't be so hard on yourself." Makarov snorted and gave the (now sitting upright) boy a reassuring smile.

Joel gulped and nodded, then faced Erza. Even though her expression was neutral, only an idiot wouldn't be able to tell that she was angry.

"Erza-san, I'm sorry for what I did yesterday." I bowed as much as I could whilst sitting in bed. When I looked up she nodded once in acceptance, then closing the door behind her so that the four of them were alone. Makarov sprang onto the bed and patted the sheets where Joel's leg was.

"Now Joel, if you could do us a small favour..."

Joel gulped, he knew what was coming.

"...please, tell us what happened in your past."

* * *

><p><strong>What happened on that fated night...<strong>

***Note: NOT in Joel's POV. This is what really happened.***

_"Mom! Mooooom! Liz put a bug in my shirt again!" a scruffy-looking twelve year old with ruffled purple-black hair and large gray eyes wearing shorts and a large t-shirt ran towards a violet-haired woman who looked to be in her thirties, followed quickly by a grinning fifteen-year-old girl with long, purple-black hair in a low ponytail and fuscha-pink eyes wearing kahki shorts and a skin-tight black tank top._

_The violet haired lady closed her mint-coloured eyes for a brief moment in irritation before opening them and sprending her arms in time to embrace her son._

_"Elizabeth Grace Williams, stop playing dirty pranks on your brother and learn to behave like a lady for once!" the woman scolded her daughter lightly, jaw clenching when Liz merely huffed and crossed her arms._

_"I told you Mom, I don't wanna be a lady, I wanna be the next Guild Master of Pensans!" she smirked triumphantly. "I'm already really strong, I can beat all my friends in our training spars."_

_"Not the point, hunny." The woman sighed, as if she was tired of this conversation. Joel cuddled into her and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her "Mommy's Boy" of a son._

_Suddenly, there was the sound of explosion and the ground shook, causing the three to stumble._

_"Gwen!" A man shouted, rushing over. His hair was long, maroon-black with streaks of gray, and tied back a ponytail. His tall frame loomed over his wife. "Guinevere, are you alright?"_

_Gwen forced a smile and patted the man's arm. "We're fine, Harold. What's happening?"_

_"A Dark Guild." he replied, seeing his daughter's eyes light up in anticipation and his son's in fear. "A rather strong one too, known as-"_

_Another crash interrupted them and this time the Guild exploaded with fights. Suddenly the calm seaside guild was filled with screams of rage and anger. _

_During the rush, Gwen had somehow managed to sneak her kids behind the bar and into the backroom that was used only for storage._

_"You two, promise me you'll stay in here until the coast is clear, got it?" she demanded in what her kids thought was a strangely cold tone, for normally she spoke in warm, soft tones. "Don't move from here until someone comes to find you."_

_"I want to fight!" Liz protested immediately._

_"No!" Gwen snapped, surprising the girl. She gave Liz a grim smile. "I love you both very much, so I don't want you to get hurt, ok?" She hugged them both briefly, though Joel clung to her longer. When she pulled away she could see tears in his eyes._

_"Be good kids and stay here ok? Mommy loves you." With that, she got up and shut the door behind her, going out to fight._

_And that was the last time Liz and Joel ever spoke to their mother._

* * *

><p>"Mom was acting strange before that, too." Joel murmured, running his hands through his hair to get as much of the spray out as possible.<p>

"Strange how?" Makarov asked gently.

"Well for a start, Pensans is quite a noisy Guild by nature, even more than Fairy Tail, because our family's blood line has music magic running through every generation; so many Mages have music-related magic, like my sister. Mom used to always be fine with it, but in the last few months before the attack she'd complain about it being far too loud and that she preferred no noise to the Guild.

"Also, I noticed that she'd always snap at people for the littlest things - that was something she'd never done before. Everybody knew her to be so calm and peaceful, not just a mother to us but a mother to everyone in the Guild, especially seeing as she was the Guild Master's wife-"

"You're the son of a Guild Master?" Wendy interrupted innocently. She blinked and blushed, slapping a hand over her mouth.

Joel gave her a small grin. "Yeah. My family's the one with the blood line to the second strongest Mage in Kernow. Every male on my father's side of the family have had two magic spells passed down from mage to mage. My sister was the first female."

"So cool," Wendy breathed, grinning.

"Kernow," Makarov was muttering as he got up to leave. "I've heard of that land before..."

* * *

><p>It was a little after 2 in the afternoon when Joel found himself in the weirdest situation: clothes shopping. Not that that was strange; he was actually used to it and somewhat enjoyed it thanks to his sister; but it was clothes shopping with Wendy, Levi and <em>Gajeel.<em>

Cue flashback.

_After Makarov left mumbling under his breath, Erza followed after, leaving Wendy alone with him._

_Wendy cleared her throat, standing and brushing off the nightdress. "I'll leave you to get cleaned up then." She gave him a quick smile and almost ran out of the door. _

_Joel jumped up from under the blankets and caught the door before she closed it. "Wait!"_

_Wendy jumped in surprise. "Yes?"_

_"I..." Joel gulped. "L-let me make it up to you?"_

_Wendy shook her head. "You don't need to-"_

_"-please, Wendy-san, I really want to apologize and make everything better. It'll be my treat, ok?" he gave her a hopeful look._

_Wendy pondered the thought for a moment before yawning. Giggling, she blushed and replied, "Sure, see you later Joel. Though, can I bring some friends?"_

_Joel nodded, feeling relieved that he wouldn't be alone with the girl._

_"Great," Wendy smiled, quickly glancing over his body and suddenly holding back laughter. "By the way, your clothes."_

_Joel looked down; sometime while he was drunk he must've shed his clothes and flopped straight into bed._

_In other words, he currently had nothing on other than plain black boxers. His face flushed bright red as Wendy ran down the hall laughing._

_"Gah!"_

"So," Joel began awkwardly. "I understand why Levi would agree to come with us, but why Gajeel...?"

The four of them were walking down the main shopping street of Magnolia. It was crowded with people enjoying the spring sun and fine weather; there were many stalls set up and children playing in the parks.

"Mr Grumpypants needs new clothes for the warm weather soo I've agreed to help him," Levi sing-songed as she skipped infront of the two men with Wendy beside her. Even with the age differences Wendy was taller by about 2 centimetres.*

"More like you forced me to come along and then forced me to let you choose clothes for me." Gajeel muttered under his breath, glaring at the bluenette that was some way ahead and chatting animatedly with Wendy.

"How cute," Joel snorted.

"What?" Gajeel growled, directing his glare at the younger male beside him.

Joel smirked. "It's so obvious."

"What is?"

"That you love her."

"Wha?" Gajeel tripped over his own feet in shock and instead of helping, Joel burst out laughing and doubled over. The two bluenettes paused as they stared at the scene: Gajeel brushing his pants off whilst turning red and Joel turning red from lack of oxygen.

"Nothing to see here, carry on." Joel waved his hand at the girls, who shrugged and continued to the next shop.

As soon as they turned, Gajeel muttered, "Is it that obvious?"

"It really, really is."

"Do you think she knows?"

"Probably not."

Gajeel sighed and moved to follow them, Joel on his heel.

"It's ok to like her, you know."

Gajeel growled, ignoring Joel's statement.

"Have you tried telling her?"

Gajeel snorted. "Like hell I would."

"Why not? Scared?" Joel grinned, knowing this would set the Iron Dragonslayer off.

"I ain't scared of nothing!" he snarled.

"Only of her 'special weapon' that I've heard so much about." Joel smirked. Joel heard from Wendy while they were waiting for Levi to arrive that she could get anyone in the Guild to do what she wanted using her puppy dog eyes. To think, that it'd work on the mighty Iron Dragonslayer as well was a riot in the making.

"No-one can say no to the eyes." Gajeel stated. "It's a trick to lure all men into giving them what they want."

Joel snorted at the idea. "Not really though."

Gajeel nodded his head sincerely as they entered a clothes shop the girls had entered a few moments before. "I'm serious. After all, would you say no to Wendy if she gave you that look?" With that he left to wander the shop in search of his Bookworm.

Joel pondered that thought for a moment before shrugging and looking around for the girl herself.

He found the girl a few moments later, fingering a very cute light green summer dress. Around the top hem was a stip of white lining and it has straps the same colour.

"Why don't you go try it on?" Joel leaned in beside her, startling her.

"J-Joel-kun?" she stammered, blushing at their proximity.

"I think it'll look nice on you, go try it," he urged her gently.

"O-okay." With that, she turned and ran to Levi, who was also about to get changed. The two got changing rooms next to each other and the remaining guys sat on the chairs opposite; Gajeel slumping as far down as possible, Joel sitting with his elbows on his knees, twiddling his fingers absent-midedly.

After a few moments Levi pulled back the curtain to reveal herself in low-cut, white short shorts that had blue and orange embroidery around the edge of the front pockets and on the back pockets completely; a white tube top that covered her small chest and a a sleeveless orange top that stopped at her belly button and had slits all the way down both sides to the rim, revealing tanned skin yet staying modest.

Joel heard Gajeel choke and cover it up with a cough.

"It makes your butt look..." Gajeel, at a loss for words, emphasized with hands, making a round motion. "...you know."

"Are you saying I look fat?" Levi wailed, face crumpling.

"No! I mean-" Gajeel got up and ran to her, trying to make her understand what he meant, though from the looks of it it wasn't working. Joel sighed and got up to whisper in her ear what Gajeel really meant. Levi gasped and turned bright red, running back into the changing room.

Joel chuckled. Gajeel turned and grabbed him by the arms. "What'd you tell her?"

"I simply told her what you meant." Joel smirked. "I quote: 'he thinks you have a nice ass'."

"Why you-!" Gajeel fumed, shaking the poor teen back and forth violently. Joel's head snapped forwards and backwards and his world spun.

"Gajeel-kun? What are you doing to Joel-kun?" A petite voice asked from behind them. The two turned around and were startled to see Wendy in the dress.

Joel blushed; Wendy looked immensely cute. It was very form-fitting all the way to her hips where it flowed out into a layered, mid-thigh skirt. Taking in her age he also noticed that she was rather... well developed, physically. The dress revealed a bit of cleavage with a v dip, though not overly; her hips were defined and her waist was small and slender, giving her a perfect hour-glass figure. Best of all, the small skirt emphasized her long, toned legs that showed off the right amount of muscle for a highly-trained Mage.

"Joel-kun? Your nose is bleeding."

"Eh?" Joel blushed again as Gajeel let his arms go so that he could fumble in his pocket for a tissue.

"Ahhh, Wendy-chan, that looks so cute on you!" Levi returned from the changing rooms, ignoring the two male mages and hugged the blushing girl.

"R-really? Does it look okay?"

"More than that! It's prefect! Right, _Joel-kun?_" Levi smirked behind Wendy's back. Revenge is sweet.

"I-it looks fantastic, Wendy-san. I told you it would." Joel looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, where his Guild mark is, awkwardly while trying not to blush again.

Wendy blushed again. "Ano, how much is it? Can you check, Levi-chan?"

Levi scooted around and pulled the tag out at the back. She sucked in her breath. "5,850 Jewels*"

Wendy whirled around. "T-that much? Oh..."

"For such a simple summer dress?" Gajeel snorted. Joel shot him a knowing look.

"Simple, yes. But I noticed after looking around that the quality of the materials are just above standard, so of course they'd be a bit more expensive. Plus, despite how it looks, the dress is actually quite delicately made and well-tailored."

The three looked at him, surprised. "What?"

"Ne, I picked it up when I was younger, ok? Looking for details whilst shopping is important or else you'd end up buying junk." Joel shrugged.

Levi patted Wendy's shoulder awkwardly as her head drooped. "Don't worry, maybe they'll save it for you until you save up for it."

"Speaking of which, are you, er, really going to buy those?" Gajeel gestured awkwardly to the clothes hanging off Levi's arm. Said girl blushed.

"O-of course.." she replied hesitantly.

"You can't be serious." Gajeel sweat-dropped. Levi pulled a face and the two walked over to the cashier, arguing along the way.

Joel sighed, the pair reminded him of his sister and one very annoying guy that they'd met at the annual Guild Master Meetings. Compared to the guy, Liz appeared petite and frail while appeared to be a wild beast, though in reality she was the powerful monster and he was, well...a shirtless moron who was in love with her.

He glanced back to see Wendy looking at her reflection in a full-body mirror, fingering one to the layers of skirt with a troubled face.

"You really like this?" he asked, coming up to stand behind her.

"Mn," Wendy watched him in the reflection. Her eyes were big and bright, tinted with a wanting look; she looked like a puppy whose toy was stolen.

"H-how 'bout I buy it for you?" he stammered, blinking as her expression changed from longing to hopeful then to worry.

"But Joel-kun, the price is-"

"I promised to return the favour, didn't I?" he leaned over her smaller frame, carefully wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. They looked up at their refection, both blushing slightly fro the contact yet neither moving apart.

Wendy nodded. Joel squeezed her waist slightly and let go, backing away to give her space. "Go get changed then," he smiled cheerfully. As she smiled and ran off, the smile dropped and turned depressed. "My savings..."

"You could just take a mission if you need money."

Joel jumped in surprise to see Gajeel beside him, smirking. "What'd I tell ya? Beware of the eeeeeyyyyyesss-"

"Sure, sure, whatever." Joel waved him off. Gajeel chuckled and, surprisingly, ruffled his hair.

"You take care of her, you hear?" he growled roughly, looking slightly embarrassed. "She's like a sister to me, so if you make her cry, I'll shove an iron pillar so far up your ass you-"

"Gajeel! Stop talking mean to the poor kid and carry this!" Levi smacked the Dragonslayer's arm and shoved a bag into his arms.

"What? Why should I carry it, Shorty?"

"Cause I said so!"

"Make me carry it, Bookworm."

"No special iron for you."

"Ok! Ok! Sheesh, no need to go that far.."

Joel chuckled. "She's got you whipped~"

Gajeel growled and reached out to fuss his hair again(though this time with the intention of ripping it off), but Joel'd scampered a safe distance away, and almost straight into Wendy. He noticed her blush as she handed him the dress.

Over at the cashier, the check-out lady winked at him coyly. He struggled to keep a calm face, though luckily Wendy was standing a little ways behind him.

"Buying the girlfriend a present, eh? What's the occassion?"

"Erm, we're not together, I'm...returning a favour." he stammered quietly.

"Really, is that it? Honestly, if I hadn't just heard that I'dve thought you two were the cutest couple ever, and so young too!" sighing, the lady bagged the dress and held a hand out for the money. "Tell you what, special discount, 5,000 Jewels instead of 5,850."

"Th-thank you!" surprised, Joel smiled gratefully and payed.

The lady waved the group off as they exited, continuing on their journey.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Gajeel," Levy scampered around the iron dragonslayer as he walked her home. "Did you see the way Joel-kun kept looking at Wendy-chan? I think it's love."<p>

"Hmmph." Gajeel grunted, remembering how the newest Fairy Tail mage had picked up his small crush on the petite Script mage so easily. Was he really that easy to read?

He stopped outside the gates of Fairy Hills, not wanting to alert the barrier signal. Levi walked ahead a bit then turned around, clutching the bag with both hands.

"Thank you for agreeing to come with us today." Levi smiled, a small blush on her cheeks.

"Don't worry about it, Short-Stuff."

"And," Levi's blushed deepend, "thanks for the compliment earlier, even if was a little awkward."

It was Gajeel's turn to blush. Why did he even open his big mouth too comment earlier? And stupid Joel for actually telling her what he really meant!

"Ahh, whatever.." he muttered, not meeting her gaze. Levi giggled and a small 'iron' appeared and landed in his arms.

"Good night!" she waved before running for the building.

"G'night." he replied, though mostly to himself. Taking a bite, his eye's widened and he blushed again. "S-so good..."

* * *

><p><strong>* Imagine an older Levi, who's a tiny bit taller and with a slightly bigger bust, but not much though ;)<strong>

***EDIT: Fairy Tail Wiki says 1000J is 10 $ in our money, so actually J is divided by 10 to get our price. 5,850 is 58.50 in our money :)**

**Special thanks to BrOkEnToYbOx for the helpful advice! :D It really helped! :)**

**All advice will be accepted! Please R&R!**

**KKR :P**


	5. The Missions

**Thank you everyone who's reading and enjoying the story ^^ I was going to make this longer but I thought I'd just make this a little filler than start the Mission Arc in the next chapter, seeing as this has all three pairs in it and the missions are paired off in the dragon pairs :P**

* * *

><p>The day after the shopping trip, Wendy woke up fresh and early on a Sunday morning.<p>

Sitting up, she streched and yawned, wriggling to get rid of all kinks in her joints and muscles.

She showered, washing her long hair slowly as her thoughts drifted to Joel.

_Wahh! I'm thinking about a boy whilst naked! Kyah!_

Wendy slapped her cheeks, willing them to cool down. It wasn't good to be thinking about boys in the shower! Right?

She couldn't help it though. The way he smiled when he told her she looked beautiful, how he carefully wrapped his arms around her in a hug, holding her close yet gently at the same time..._kyah, _what on Earthland was she thinking?

Unconsciously, her arms wrapped around her waist in memory of where his arms were. Blushing, she inwardly sighed as the feeling wasn't the same.

Turning off the water Wendy stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a large, fluffy towel that, surprisingly, Gajeel had got her for her birthday last year.

_Such a softie on the inside, aren't we, Gajeel-kun?_ she mused.

She had a feeling a certain blue-haired Script Mage had something to do with this.

Heading over to the mirrors that lined one wall of the Fairy Hills bathroom, she opened her cabinet and pulled out her special brush that helped deal with the knots in her thick hair, brushing through it as quickly as possible before unwrapping her towel and creating a mini whirlwind around her to dry her hair and body quickly.

She pulled on her undergarments and her clothes for the day (blue denim shorts, long white tank top and a pale pink cardigan) and messed around with her, finally deciding on a low ponytail on either side of her head. She pinched her cheeks for colour and after a coat of pink quava-flavoured lipbalm, she put her dirty clothes and towel in her laundry hamper and made her way back to her room.

* * *

><p>As she got to the guild at about 10am, she spotted Joel standing by the request board.<p>

"Joel-kun?"

The boy jumped. "O-Ohayō Wendy-san." He gave her a warm smile and hugged her tightly.

Breathing in his scent, Wendy realised he smelt strongly of seabreeze and a type of flower... was it honeysuckle? She blushed, _I really shouldn't be smelling him!_

She had to admit though, he looked really nice in plain black cargo pants and white t-shirt.

"Are you looking for a mission to go on, Joel-kun?"

"Maybe, it's just..." he looked at the request board again. "There are three request by the same mayor, and they're all totally different. I was thinking that maybe I could take one and find some others to do the other two, so that if I need back-up they'll be near."

"That sounds great." Wendy glanced at the board. "Ne...Joel-kun..."

"Yeah?"

"Would you like me to join you on your job?"

"Wha?" Joel blushed. "Er. I-I mean, sure."

Wendy giggled and looked for the ones he mentioned.

Sure enough, there were three requests with from a mayor named Yorick of a city named Koukon.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Retrieve Missing Girl<strong>_

_The daughter of Mayor Yorick of Koukon City, twelve-year-old Sakura-Mio, has been missing for a week. She is believed to have run away with only a few clothes and a bit of money. Bandits have been seen in the area, please help before she is caught and kidnapped by them._

_**Picture: **__Dark-rose-haired girl with dark blue eyes scowling at the camera, wearing a frilly gown._

_**Reward: 180,000 J**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Defeat Bandits<strong>_

_A large group of Bandits have been roaming the streets of Koukon City, causing many disturbances. About 30 in total, including the leader, a man calling himself Monstro._

_**No Picture.**_

_**Reward: 200,000 J**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Private Tutor For Twins<strong>_

_Mayor Yorick of Koukon City is looking for a tutor for his youngest sons, Ben and Gen. Both are seven years old and have magic known as 'Spellcaster'. Both should be shown how to control their magic, plus be given self-defence training and hand-to-hand combat training._

_**Picture: **__Identical boys - Ben on the left with light, blond-brown hair, light green eyes and cheeky grin; Gen on the right with slightly darker hair and darker green eyes, sporting a small frown. _

_**Reward: 120,000 J**_

* * *

><p>"Shall we do the missing girl job?" Wendy quizzed lightly. Joel nodded and gabbed the paper, when they heard a familar sound.<p>

"Natsu, I need rent! We're going on a mission." Lucy's voice caught up to them as they spotted their friend dragging a sleepy dragonslayer towards them.

"Ohayō Lucy-san, Natsu-kun." Joel smiled.

"Ohayō," Wendy echoed.

Lucy greeted the two with a nod. Natsu had woken up a bit and after giving the board a quick glance-over he ripped the Defeat Bandits paper off.

"Luce, this one! Beating people up for 200,000 Jewels!" he grinned excitedly.

"But Natsu, that must mean it'll be hard." Lucy whined, not liking the idea at all.

"Lucy-san don't worry," Wendy smiled encouragingly. "Joel-kun and I just decided on a job that will be in the same town."

"Ah!" Lucy's face relaxed yet at the same time grinning mischieviously. "You and Joel are going on a job together?"

"Yes, Wendy-san offered to help me seeing as this will be my first Guild-job in a while." Joel smiled sheepishly.

"In a while?" Natsu butted in, frowning a little.

Joel paused. "Er..."

"Doesn't matter!" Lucy quickly changed the subject. She was looking at the request board. "Levy-chan has been looking for a job to do too, and this one looks perfect!" She grabbed the private tutor job. "Though, self-defense and hand-to-hand..."

"Maybe Gajeel-kun will help out with that?" Joel put in innocently, though he barely contained his smirk.

"Perfect!" Lucy smirked back, catching on to what Joel was hinting at. She ran off to hand the Solid Script Mage the paper.

"Looks like we'll all be travelling together." Joel grinned, making Wendy smile.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I got dragged into this again..." Gajeel muttered as they sat on the train, waiting for it to depart. Next to him, Levy and Pantherlily chatted quietly while Lucy sat across from them with Natsu's head on her lap as he was already dreading the ride. Happy and Charle sat in the booth next to them and opposite Joel and Wendy. Surprisingly, Charle had fallen asleep on Happy's shoulder (it WAS 2am on a Monday morning) and Happy was crying silent, happy tears whilst trying not to wake her up. Eventually, he fell asleep too.<p>

As the train took off, Levy gave Gajeel an 'Iron' and 'Sleep' so that he didn't feel sick.

Looking out of the window, Joel watched the faintly familiar landscape pass by. It felt good to be travelling, he's been used to it by now. In the four years since he left his family's Guild, he'd never stopped travelling, only pausing long enough to take jobs for money. Now though, he'd finally found his desitnation: Fairy Tail.

Joel let a smile settle on his face.

Just as his eyes were closing, he felt a sudden pressure on his shoulder. Turning his head carefully, he saw his favourite Dragon Slayer leaning on his shoulder with a pale face. She was murmuring in her sleep and looked a little sickly.

'She must have travel sickness as well, and can't use her magic to heal herself.' he thought. Thinking it through, Joel began to hum, then sing under his breath:

_hands over my head thinking; what else could go wrong?_

_wouldve stayed in bed, how can a day be so long?_

_never believed that things happen for a reason. ._

_but how this turned out; you moved all my doubts, I believe_

_that for you Ill do it all over again, do it all over again_

_all I went through, led me to you; so Id do it all over again_

_. . . for you_

Glancing to the other booth, he nearly jumped in surprise to see the other two female Mages listening in on him. Blushing, he ignored them as best he could and instead moved about so that he and Wendy were more comfortable, the end result was him leaning against the window with Wendy under his arm leaning against his chest. He himself felt tired too, but he was determined to finish this lullaby for Wendy, who was starting to look better.

_I missed the first train, stood out in the rain, all day_

_little did I know; when I caught the next train, _

_there you were to sweep me away_

_guess thats what I've waited for_

_never believed that things happened for a reason_

_but how this turned out, you moved all my doubts, I believe_

_that for you Ill do it all over again; do it all over again_

_all I went through, led me to you; so Id do it all over again _

As he fell asleep, his head leaning on top of Wendy's, he failed to notice Levy and Lucy smiling and giggling. Or that Charle had woken up a little and gave him an approving smile, not that she'd ever tell them she approved of their little crushes on each other.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it's not much people! ^^'<strong>

**Ohayo - good morning**

**the 'lullaby' is Again - Bruno Mars. It's a short and simple song but quite lovely :D**

**ALSO - Sorry it's taking so long to update, but I've been obsessed with a website called Wattpad - its a site to post your own story type thing. (There is fanfiction but they're all OneDirection stories - ugh)**

**Anyways, let me know what you think! :)**


	6. Mission Arc: Sky I

**HERE WE GO PEOPLE! I HAVE A HELLA BIG NEWS FOR YOU!**

**...**

**..**

**..**

**...**

**I am holding a contest! :D**

**For details click the link on my profile, which will take you to my journal on DeviantArt. **

**If you can't go on dA or you're too lazy, details are at the end of the chapter! :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Joel POV<strong>

A whopping sixteen hours later, the group finally made it to Koukon City, which was farther away from Magnolia than they realized. I'd been here once before, actually, when I got off the ship from Kernow. Koukon City delt with overseas business and trading, no surprise.

Upon exiting the train station, everyone stopped and gaped at the view. Everything looked old-fashioned, yet modern. Behind us, once you walked (or drove) through the underground tunnel, was the port where the ships were. Small, red-bricked houses lined several streets around the outer suburbs of the city; towards the middle, several modern shops and high-storey appartment buildings lined the horizon. And bang smack in the centre of the city, a giant mansion that was at least twice the size of Lucy's father's. Where they stood now was between the suburbs and next to one of the tallest buildings in the area, which was a ten-storey hotel.

The Exceeds decided to fly around the perimeter and meet us later at the Mayor's mansion. Meanwhile, our group was looking quite lost.

"Shall we book some rooms here?" Lucy suggested, pointing at the hotel.

"I dunno," Levy replied, looking around nervously. "I think the Mayor planned for the tutors to stay with him, as for the other jobs..."

"We'll just have to go ask then!" Natsu exclaimed, feeling better now that he wasn't on th train anymore.

"How are we going to get there though?" Gajeel pointed out with a sweep of his arm. "This city's fucking huge, it'll take us all day just to get there." He sent a glare out to the bustling, carriage-filled streets.

"You guys don't know your way around a city?" I blurted out, surprised. The two male Dragon Slayers puffed their cheeks in a pout and looked away. Levy and Lucy fidgeted while Wendy continued looking around the area.

"Well, so far none of the cities we've been to haven't been this big." Lucy stated.

"Yeah, I didn't even know a city could get this big," Levy added.

"The air tastes dirty here." Wendy noted thoughtfully, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. Since waking up this morning in my arms, she hasn't looked me in the eye. I guess it makes sense, after all, I was tired too and wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing. It was a little awkward to say the least.

"That's the lacrima." I noticed the confused stares. I elaborated what I knew of cities like these: "Large cities like these have companies that drive people everywhere, correct? Well, not every driver can use magic to power the wagons, so the wagons are powered by oil lacrima."

"Oil lacrima?" Levy gasped. "I thought those were rare?"

"They've been a big market sucess in the past year or so," I shrugged. "Anyway, they're used to power the company wagons here - they're called Automobiles - and the result of usage is faul-smelling smoke. Hence what you taste, Wendy-san."

"If this place is big, I wonder how big Crocus is." Lucy whispered.

"Not that much larger, these two cities are probably on par with each other. At least, that's what it felt like travelling through them." I shrugged again. Stretching, I yawned and grabbed my bag. "Let's get going, I have a general idea where to go."

The others, slightly helplessly, shrugged silently and followed quickly. As I passed Wendy, I picked her backpack up and slung across one shoulder.

"Ano, I can carry-" she began but I cut her off with a smile.

"That wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me if I made you carry your bags yourself, Wendy-san." I told her quietly, struggling not to blush at my cheesy lines.

"A-arigato." she whispered, fiddling with her hands and looking away. Chuckling, I patted her head and headed down the street.

"Hey, what about our bags?" Lucy called out playfully, only to let out a squeak when I levitated her's and Levy's bags with a hand.

"Oi!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's bags and Gajeel grabbed Levy's.

"Don't think you're the only one who can carry a lot of stuff!" Natsu yelled, ruining his (slightly) romantic gesture. Gajeel simply looked anywhere but at the Solid Script Mage who was blushing slightly.

I just clicked my tongue, sighing.

"Whatever." I smirked, leading the way with the girls behind me and the males taking the rear.

* * *

><p><strong>Wendy 3rd POV<strong>

She couldn't help it, she couldn't stop stealing glances at him as they crossed roads and zig-zigged through the maze of the city.

It surprised her that Joel knew what he was doing. Sure, he did mention travelling a lot, but to simply seize authority and take the lead surprized her too. It made her wonder what kind of backround he had, to change from sweet and subtle Joel to silently taking charge and ruling it Joel. For a moment it reminded her of Erza, who'd usually be in charge if she were here, but she was on a month-long S-Class mission and wouldn't be around for a while.

(Gray, also, is away on a mission with Juvia)

It took us quite some time to get to our destination, considering we had to drag Natsu away from every restaurant we walked past. When we go there though, a few servants were waiting for us.

"Greetings, Fairy Tail Mages," a woman with long black hair in a high ponytail pushed up her glasses as she held a clipboard up. She wore a simple pants suit in black with a white blouse that was open up to her ample bosom. "My name is Amanda and I'll be in charge of taking care of you. Am I correct to assume that you're all here for the total of three missions?" She gave us sharp look, though before anyone could reply Joel stepped forward, once again taking the lead.

"Greetings," his voice was level and Wendy wasn't the only one who had noticed the slight change in personality. "Name's Joel and my partner and I will be searching for Sakura-Mio-san; the other four will be taking the other missions." He gave a sharp bow of his head.

Amanda nodded back, seemingly satisfied with his answer. She turned and told her servants, "Take them inside and move their bags to their rooms." To the Mages, she said, "Come, I'll take you to see the Mayor."

As Amanda _click-click_ed back into the house with her pointy heels, Joel turned and gave everyone a sheepish grin.

"So...looks like we're staying here." he finally muttered, picking up his and Wendy's bags before handing them over to the maids who were going to take them to their rooms.

Lucy and Levy shared a look and shrugged, they were ok with the plan. Gajeel shrugged indifferently and looked around for Pantherlily, who should have joined them by now. Natsu was asking one of the maids if they could bring fish and matches to his room later for when he and Happy needed a midnight snack.

Wendy crept up behind Joel and nudged his arm. "Shall we go in?"

"Sure." With that, he led the way inside.

* * *

><p><strong>General POV<strong>

The Mayor was not a very likable man up close. His hair was brown and plain, lacking nourishment and dry from the overdose of hairgel keeping it in place. His eyes were a cold shade of blue. He was also tall, though light-framed; not too musclar but definitely no weakling. He carried an air of well-acquainted arrogance that seemed to set the Fairy Tail Mages a little on the edge.

"So," he finally sighed, giving everyone a once over. "these are the Mages who accepted the jobs?" He leaned back in chair and from behind his desk, gave them an amsued look. "Well? Introduce yourselves." he ordered.

A moment of unease between the Mages, before it was once again disrupted by Joel, who took a step forward.

"Joel Williams. My parter, Wendy, and I will be looking for your daughter." Wendy dipped her head a little as her name was mentioned and Joel stepped back to stand beside her again.

Natsu and Lucy stepped forward next.

"I'm Natsu the Great Salamander and I'm here to destroy a bunch of thieves!" he announced, only to be slapped on the back of his head by Lucy.

"I'm Lucy and I'll be making sure that's the _only_ thing he destroys," she sweat-dropped.

As they stepped back Gajeel barked out, "Name's Gajeel, Shortstuff and me are gonna teach your brats how to kick ass-"

"- and how to control their magic." Levy cut him off, irritated. "And my name's Levy." she added.

The man gave a snort.

"Like I could care. I only asked to fill in time." he gave another laugh, then stopped. "Listen, I'll be nice here. You have tonight to settle in, then start tomorrow. Amanda, take the two who will be tutoring the boys and briefly introduce them to each other, then show them to their rooms: 14 and 15. The two who will be getting rid of the bandits, head down the left hallway and up two flights of stairs to my strategy room. My head of security will meet you there and later take you to your rooms:22 and 23. The other two can just go to their rooms:30 and 31."

"Sir, shouldn't we also be going through plans to find your daughter as quick as possible?" Joel spoke up, wondering why they were the only ones who weren't planning straight away.

"Oh please," the Mayor rolled his eyes. "Sakura-Mio doesn't like the dark, she'll probably stay somewhere for the night." He stood up and made a shooing gesture with his hands. "Now go on, off you go."

"But what about dinner? We're starving!" Natsu growled.

"Well, you should have thought about that before; it's too late to have the cooks make something."

"We travelled all day to get here!" Gajeel all but shouted.

"And your point is?"

Natsu and Gajeel frowned, getting ready to start an argument. Luckily Lucy and Levy grabbed them quickly and led them out of the room.

Joel stared at the Mayor for a moment, before sighing and guiding Wendy out of the room with a hand on the small of her back.

* * *

><p><strong>Joel POV<strong>

"I don't like that man." were the words that immediately left my mouth the moment we were out of hearing range.

Wendy gave me a look and a slight nod of agreement. "I'm surprised how relaxed he was even though his daughter's been missing for a week," she mused quietly.

We walked together side by side to our rooms, which we were told would be right next to each other. After the meeting the group split up to go find their rooms, which were all somewhere on the third floor, at the front side of the mansion.

When we got to our rooms (labelled 30 and 31) I opened Wendy's door for her and let her in. I couldn't help it, it felt nice to be a gentleman. She smiled and stepped inside, gasping in amazement.

The room was beautifully designed; cream walls, wooden floorboards and pale lilac accessories: pillows, curtains, bedsheets. It was furnished with light-coloured wooden furniture and soft rugs. I walked over to the window where I could see the view which was particularly breath-taking - we could see half the city from here!

"Pretty..." whispered Wendy, stepping lightly around the room in a daze. I couldn't stop staring at Wendy though. The way the light gleamed on her silky hair and how she was silhouetted against the sun setting in the background.

"Yeah...you are." I added quietly.

Unknown to me, Wendy's dragon senses had picked up the end of that sentence and so she remained facing away from me until her blush faded.

"I'll be next door if you need anything," I told her. She turned and smiled, making her way over to me again.

"Are you sure you want to go? It's barely nine, and Charle's not back yet." Looking closely, I noticed that though she smiled a lot, she was clearly missing her feline best friend.

"Then how about I stay until she's back?" Wendy nodded and I took that as my sign to stay.

I watched Wendy crouch down beside her travel bag and I decided not to be awkward and went to sit on the bed. It barely made a noise and the sheets felt very soft.

"A-ano..."

"Wendy?" I turned to look at her. She stood there slightly awkwardly, clutching a nightgown in her hands.

"I..um..I don't want to go look for a bathroom, and it's just-"

"Ah, it's ok, I'll go outside."

"No!" Wendy jumped in front of me as I got up to leave. She blushed heavily. "I, um, ano..." she blushed some more and looked at some point over my shoulder. "Just don't peak, please?"

I blushed. She really didn't mind me being in the same room as her as she got changed?

She'll be naked right behind me.

No clothes.

She completely trusts me not to peak on her.

I am so friend-zoned.

Or am I?

"Er, o-okay." I stammered, trying to remain calm. She relaxed a little and moved behind me, leaving me to gaze determinedly out of the window.

_Dammit Joel! Since when have you ever been tempted by these perverted urges? Be a gentleman, baka!_

I closed my eyes and drew a deep, calming breath. Don't get me wrong, I am a normal teenage male like every other, I've gone through puberty and all the hormones. Though to be honest I've never such a strong urge to view to female body before...

"Joel-kun?"

I spun around, and stared. The nightgown was long-sleeved(past her hands long) and slightly lacey-see-through, and made of white material. It barely reached her mid-thigh. She'd taken her hair out of it's ponytail and it draped like a silky blue curtain over her shoulders.

"Cute..." Joel whispered, grinning.

Wendy blushed, pouting a little when she caught herself yawning.

"Go to sleep if you want, I'll still be here until Charle returns." I told her quietly.

She smiled softly and nodded, yawning again. She giggled and jumped into bed, sighing blissfully as she dove under the soft sheets. I wandered over to her, watching her drift off surprisingly quickly.

"Joel?"

Startled, I blinked rapidly to make it not look like I was watching her in a creepy way.

"Yeah?" I whispered.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but did you sing to me while we were on the train?" Despite being hald-asleep, Wendy blushed a little.

I sat down carefully on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah. It's just something that my sister used to do to help me get to sleep when I was a kid. I thought it might work for you too." I muttered.

"Could you sing something for me again?"

I just blinked at her, shocked. She liked my singing?

"Please?" She popped open one eye to look at me hopefully, and that was all it took.

"Don't go telling people that I sing for you, okay?" I sighed, and she nodded eagerly. I smirked. "Good, 'cause I will only ever sing for you, got that?"

Wendy blushed.

Smiling, I began with another soft tune I knew.

_"There I was again tonight_

_Forcing laughter, faking smiles_

_Same old tired lonely place_

_Walls of insincerity,_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy_

_Vanished when I saw your face_

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you_

_Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?"_

_Across the room your silhouette_

_Starts to make its way to me_

_The playful conversation starts_

_Counter all your quick remarks_

_Like passing notes in secrecy_

_And it was enchanting to meet you_

_All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you"_

I paused, hearing her breathe deeply, a signal that she was already asleep. I chuckled and carried on anyway, brushing a strand of hair away from her face as I did.

_"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you_

_The lingering question kept me up_

_2 AM, who do you love?_

_I wonder 'til I'm wide awake_

_And now I'm pacing back and forth_

_Wishing you were at my door_

_I'd open up and you would say, "Hey,_

_It was enchanting to meet you,_

_All I know is I was enchanted to meet you.""_

I frowned, realising that those lyrics described my... predicament, involving this cute little Dragon Slayer and my feelings. I shrugged mentally and decided to skip to the last few lines.

_"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_This night is flawless, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you_

_Please don't be in love with someone else_

_Please don't have somebody waiting on you"_

And before I knew what I was doing, I'd bent over and kissed her forehead. What am I doing? I'm getting out of control here! I struggled to keep a worried frown off of my face. I sighed and started to get up when I small cough startled me.

Charle!

"C-Charle-san," I murmured, surprised and slightly embarrassed. How long had the exceed been there?

Even more surprising, Charle wasn't frowning at me as usual. Instead, her features were soft and relaxed, maybe even with a small smile as she floated in the doorway. I expected some sort of lecture about being alone in a bedroom with Wendy with no supervision where anything could have happen but she just sighed tiredly and gave me a weak smile.

"Thank you for taking care of her today, Joel-kun."

What?

What what?

No lecture?

"Y-Your welcome," I stammered, blushing. I brushed off my jeans and left the room. Just before the door shut Charle caught it and mewed, "Don't stay up late, I expect to see you up at 7am the latest."

There was the Charle we knew. "Yes M'am." I grinned. She chuckled softly and shut the door.

Manly as it is, I can safely say I totally did not skip that small distance to my room next door. At all.

* * *

><p><strong>Song was "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift, but for the male version search Austin Nivarel on youtube :)<strong>

**NOTE: Austin's voice is kind of how I'd imagine Joel's voice to be, so if you want to know then search it :P**

**CONTEST!  
><strong>

**Mission:**

design a character (preferably male) and I'll pick a few to be characters. You can submit more than one but not too many please - I'd like a few evil ones too! i need some of them. I already have a Dark Guild, so if you draw a character just write where it'd be, cause I can't say what it is yet Dx

**Details:**

I'm looking for:  
>#1 = <em>2-3 evil males with small roles.<em>

#2 =_1 very evil female with a small(ish) role, she'll be mentioned a lot and should be of great importance._  
>~<p>

#3 = _an evil male with a middle-ish role_  
>~<p>

#4 = _any kind of extra characters for small roles (good or bad), about 3-5 of them_

**Winner's will receive:**

#1 = _a sketch of their character and a shout out in my story__ (if all/some of the characters are from one person I'll sketch them together)_

#2 =_ a coloured sketch and a shout out in my story; possibly a one-shot if they have an interesting story_

#3_ =a coloured sketch and a shout out in my story; possibly a one-shot if they have an interesting story_

_#4 = _a_ shout out in my story and a group sketch of them all together_

**I've already had offers on #2 and #4 so please hurry!**

**HOW TO ENTER:  
><strong>

**If you can't/won't go on dA, please PM me with this filled out:**

Name:

Gender:

Species/Race:

Age/Date of Birth:

Height:

Hair Colour:

Eye Colour:

General Appearance (hairstyle, shape/build, scars/tattoos/piercings):

Signature Clothing:

Accessories:

Affiliation: _This should be blank cause I can't tell you the Guild's name yet :)_

Depending on your affiliation, where is your mark [ie. on the upper arm, stomach, etc.]?:

Special Techniques/Powers:

Weapon(s):

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Bio: _a short summary of your oc :)_

**Please private message me if you want to enter, don't leave it in a review if you can help it! :)**

**(if you do, I don't mind, just remember to actually review and tell me what you think of my fanfic so far)**

**Wow, this was a long AN. I've been writing in pitch black for like an hour, with no light other than my screen =.= It's not even 10pm here...**

**ANYWAYS. Lol I'mma go now. Enjoy.**

**(Also, go check out my art. I've been drawing recently. Link on profile.)**

* * *

><p><em>EDIT EDIT EDIT: Poll has been decided: I'll be writing one more NatsuXLucy one-shot and a WendyXJoel one-shot :) NaLu is halfway done and JoWe has been plotted! :D Poll is now closed and another will be up soon!<em>


	7. Mission Arc: Fire I

**Thank you for waiting! Here's the next chapter! ^^ It's a little shorter than I wanted but I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Lucy woke up in a daze. Her room was a blur in her vision and she couldn't bring herself to wake up properly yet. Instead, she snuggled down into her sheets again, ready to doze off - until a light snore brought her to her senses.<p>

"NATSU!"

Said Mage continued to snore next to her, blissfully unaware of the position they were in: Lucy's head rested on his left arm with her face undeniably close to his chest, Natsu's other arm was wrapped around her waist and their legs were tangled together.

He was also only wearing boxers.

After quickly reassuring herself that her clothes were still on and they didn't do anything, she sighed in relief and kicked the Dragon Slayer out of her bed.

"Gah! Luce, why'd you do that?" Natsu whined, rubbing the bump on his head.

"You slept in my bed again!"

"But it's always comfy!"

"You had a bed of your own this time!" Lucy scolded him, causing Natsu to pout.

"I like sleeping with you though..."

Lucy promptly turned bright red. "Don't say things like that so easily! Ba~ka." she whined, pressing her hands to her cheeks to cool them down. Natsu frowned and got up, putting a rough yet gentle hand on her forehead.

"Have you been sick recently? You've been going red a lot."

"Er...n-no." she stammered, moving back so that his hand fell away. She turned and rummaged through her bag, thankful that a certain blue-furred Exceed was still asleep.

"She liiiiiiiiiikes you!"

Or not.

"Shut up, stupid cat!"

Picking out a random top and shorts, she threw them on her bed and pointed to the door. "Get out and go to your own room! And get changed! We're having breakfast in ten minutes."

On that note, the two rushed out quickly; an unlucky maid fainted as the sight of a nearly naked man running across the hallway.

Lucy sighed. Why did she like him, again?

* * *

><p>"Ne, Natsu... Don't forget about the plan for today." Lucy warned her partner during breakfast.<p>

Natsu ignored her, shuffling plate after plate of breakfast meats into his mouth, Happy sat on the table beside him eating a fish. A tick mark grew on her head, so she bopped him on the head to grab his attention.

"Ow! Luuuuce, I was listening, I was waiting for you to remind me what Thingy said." he whined.

"Todd," Lucy corrected him, scooping up some scrambled eggs and eating them. "He helped us out last night remember? He's the Head of Security guy we met."

"Ohh, the guy with green hair?"

"Yeah."

* * *

><p><em>-Flashback-<em>

_After leaving the arrogant man in his study, Lucy and Natsu quickly found their way to the Strategy room, a room with windows covering nearly every wall so that you could see a fair bit of the city. There was a huge model city on an equally large table in te middle of the room, and charts, maps and photos were strewn on desks around the room. _

_There, sitting cross-legged on one of the desks on the opposite side of the room, was a tall, lanky guy with bright, lime green hair. It was parted down the middle and some of his bangs hung in his face as he concentrated on what was in his hands. From what she could see, they were... action figures?_

_"OI! Are you the security guy we're supposed to meet?" Natsu shouted, pointing dramatically at the mystery guy._

_In shock, the man responded by screaming in terror and falling backwards off the table, the action figures clattering to the floor in the process._

_As he got up, Lucy noticed that the complete bottom-half of his hair was shaved off, in a sort of military style get-up. What shocked her more though was, as she got closer, she could see that right side of his face - which had a long, briar-like birthmark down it, from his hair-line to his jaw. He had a similar tattoo running from his left wrist all the way up and around his arm. Not just that, but he looked really...young?_

_"I-it's nice to meet you," he stammered, smiling bashfully. "I'm Sergeant Brooks, but please call me Todd."_

[Aww, cute..]_ Lucy sighed in her head._[Wait...what am I thinking?!]_ she scolded herself mentally._

_"Hello, I'm Lucy, and this is Natsu." Lucy smiled and held out her hand, which Todd shook, visibly relaxing._

_"Ahh, I'm very happy now~" Todd laughed. "I thought the Mages that were coming might be scary."_

_"Oh trust me, I'm the scariest thing there is!" Natsu yelled, grinning as he spewed flames everywhere, causing Todd to panic._

_"Ahh! The Model!" Slamming his fist on top of his palm, Lucy watched as the miniature city rumbled and disappeared, sinking into the table._

_"Hey, it's gone! How'd you do that?" Lucy gasped. _

_Todd shrugged. "I built it using my magic: Stone Make." Slamming his opposite fist into his other palm, the city reappeared. Upon closer inspection Lucy realised the whole thing was made of an earthy-coloured stone material. Here and there, there were a few flags on tops of buildings that she noticed weren't on the actual buildings outside. Some flags were triangular with a pointed post, while the rest were square with a rounded post._

_"What are these?" Lucy asked, gently brushing a finger against one of the surprisingly well-carved flags. Todd made his way over to stand on her right side, with Natsu standing opposite them on the other side of the table._

_"This is how I track movement and keep a little order with whats been going on. The triangle flags are the bandit's previously known locations, and the square ones are where they've attacked. The taller the triangle flag, the longer the group had stayed and the larger the group. The taller the square flag, the more damage."_

_He continued on for a while, pointing out a few shops - mainly jewellery stores and cafés - that had the biggest raids on them; the old buildings that at one point held what was to believe all of the bandits for a week without them knowing until the last-minute; and places like PCS _(Public Carriage Stops - aka Bus Stops)_ and parks where people have been attacked._

_Natsu said nothing throughout the explanations and information; in fact, he paid little attention to it - he'd have Lucy explain it to him again later. What bothered him though, was how close Toge-guy* was standing next to _his _ partner, _his _Luce. Their shoulders were brushing as they leaned over the structure, supporting hands barely a centimeter away from each other as they used their other hands to make gestures for who-knows-what-reasons. _

_"Natsu, are you paying attention?" Lucy's light-hearted voice called him out of his thoughts, and he looked up from staring at their too-close hands to see her frowning slightly at him._

_"Um, y-yeah, of course." _

_"Then what's your opinion on the raid pattern and the offense system the thieves have been making?"_

_He froze, sweat-dropping. That was already enough of an answer for Lucy, who sighed irritably and then proceeded to talk to Toge-guy, who was chuckling at him?!_

_"What're you laughing at, punk?!" Natsu growled, causing the younger boy to jump in fright._

_"I-I'm not laughing!" Todd held his hands up innocently, though the corners of his mouth were twitching. As he set his fist alight he caught the warning look Lucy gave him. _

_"Don't forget how disappointed Wendy-chan will be if she finds out you get kicked out of this city for beating up important people!" she whispered furiously. Ah, that's right, they were taking this mission so that they'd be in the area in case Wendy and Joel needed help with theirs. Though originally he'd say 'leave them be, they'll be fine', he couldn't help but worry; after all, Joel hadn't even been a Guild Member for a month yet and he only saw a small part of his magic when he was caught by surprise (which he was never going to let happen again, by the way)._

_Seeing Natsu calm down, Lucy ran a hand through her hair as she gestured for Todd to continue._

_"Right," Todd beamed at Lucy happily. "About that plan..."_

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

><p>At about midday, the pair plus Happy had found themselves in the centre of the city, near to the next possible 'target', which was a popular bakery that made a hefty profit from being well-known in the city for its fine pastries.<p>

Natsu sat against the wall of the alley they were hiding in, sighing impatiently.

"Shut up." Lucy whined, leaning against the way as well. "Stop complaining."

"It's soo boring," Natsu insisted. "Why can't we just go look for them instead of waiting for them to come to us?"

"Well, maybe that's because we don't know who or where they are?" Lucy replied, making Natsu go silent.

Thankfully, there was a shriek and the group leapt into action; rounding the corner like a flash and knocking out a pathetically weak-looking man who wore a black mask with yellow feathers on it.

"Well, _that_ was disappointing," Natsu sulked, pouting. He stared with his arms crossed at the masked man trembling in front of him.

"P-Please don't hurt meeee!" he cried, snotting heavily. Lucy recoiled in disgust and Natsu retaliated by punching him in the face.

"Stop being a baby and tell us where your boss is!" he demanded.

Spitting out a blob of blood, the man shakily replied that he doesn't know and that he only took an order from a higher up, not directly from the boss.

Lucy frowned, before shrugging and turning to Natsu. "Let's take him to Todd-kun and see if he'll get some answers from him."

At this, Natsu blinked in surprise. "Why waste time? You know I'll get the answer from him if I threaten him a bit." Lighting up his hand to emphasize, he grinned cheerily.

"No offense, Natsu, but Todd-kun is probably just as good as you at threatening people. Besides, we'll need to take this guy to him anyway so he can be arrested." Lucy pointed out.

"How do you know Toge-guy is as good as me when you barely know him." Natsu muttered under his breath. Lucy didn't answer and instead pulled the cuffed man to his feet and started leading him to the mansion. Natsu watched her go for a bit, his brows furrowed in thought and mild confusion.

Why was Toge-guy someone Luce trusted instantly? How come Luce believed him to be someone he might not be after talking to him once? Why was she comparing that damn Lime-Head to him in the first place? He was OBVIOUSLY cooler!

"Ne, Natsu, are you jealousss?" Happy giggled.

"Jealous? Why should I be?" Natsu asked his companion honestly. When Happy face-pawed, he shrugged and ran to catch up with Lucy, leaving the blue cat to sigh.

"Oh, Natsu...when will you figure it out?"

* * *

><p><strong>* Toge-guy - Toge = thorns. Natsu calls him Toge-guy because of his birthmark and tattoos, which look like thorny briar vines.<strong>

**Just a reminder: If you want to enter a character please give me the details such as Name, Age, Personality, Magic, what they look like and where their guild mark would be and in what colour. :) Don't know what I mean? Check out the AN of the previous chapter! I'm still looking for bad guys and bad girls, and a couple good ones too!**


	8. Mission Arc: Iron I

**First off I'd like to thank everyone who submitted an OC for my competition!**

**I personally thanked everyone who inboxed or messaged me, though a couple of you were anonymous!**

**So thank you 'Annie' and everyone else! :)**

**Warning, Gajeel's a potty mouth! (And so am I, but still...)**

* * *

><p><strong>(Gajeel POV)<strong>

So, this Amanda person was taking us to see some brats, at nearly 10pm at night. Why are they still up? Don't small people go to bed early?

Beside him, Levy yawned and stumbled a little, before righting herself and scuttling ahead to catch up with their guide.

_Well, maybe it was just one certain small person..._

"Hurry up, Gajeel-kun!" Levy called to him with a grin. He grunted in reply and lengthened his stride, coming up behind her and smirking.

"Don't fall behind, Shorty." he grinned down at her as he overtook her steps. A small yelp reached his ears as he caused her to stumble, but he couldn't help but gihi to himself.

Childish, sure, but it was damn well worth it to see her face redden and her perfect soft lips form an undignified pout.

Prefect?

Fuck, I'm really going soft. No wonder the new kid could see through me so easily. It must really be obvious to anyone who wasn't the girl herself.

It didn't matter anyway. He had no right to act on these..._feelings_. Not after everything that's gone on between them. He was satisfied with her forgiveness, he doesn't need any more than that.

A small hand brushed his arm as Levy passed by him, giggling as she played a little with the studs on his forearm before rushing up to Amanda; who had stopped outside a door.

...

Damn it, if that small touch didn't just send his heart pounding a million beats a minute.

"The young Masters are here waiting for you." Amanda announced, knocking on the door of the room. Inside, the was a gasp and the sound of something falling over, followed by some quickly hushed commands to tidy up the mess (it seemed only Gajeel heard though), before a shaky voice called out.

"C-Come in."

Opening the doors, Amanda strode into an office-like room, except unlike the office they'd just recently left, this office had two of everything. Two desks, cabinets, chairs, armchairs. In the middle of the room, between the doors and the desks, were two sofas and a coffee table in between. In front of the table were two identical boys, standing side by side with straight backs and arms held behind them.

Now, Gajeel had next to no experience with little brats, but to him, they didn't look like a pair of seven years olds. Kids were supposed to play in mud and get dirty and cry out loud and play war games, they were supposed to be rude and curious and ask insensitive questions. Right?

So, explain this.

Two boys, in business clothes.

The one on their left wore a short sleeved white button-up with a blue tie and black dress pants. His hair was light, golden-brown, mostly straight and swooped to the right side of his face, with a single strand going the other way. His eyes were a bright, leaf-green that made him look young and innocent, which Gajeel guesses he is, considering his age. His twin; dark brown hair in the same style though in the other direction, and darker green eyes; however, had the air of an already successful businessman. He almost looked like one too, in his long-sleeved white button-up, red tie and black dress pants. Both boys were wearing black socks.

"Hello, my name is Takahashi Gen." The boy with the red tie stepped forward, giving them a nod. _Much like his no-good father, great._ Gajeel thought. "My twin brother is Takahashi Ben." Grabbing his brother's arm, he pulled him to stand next to him, and the boy stammered out a hello. _And the other one is a shy little crybaby, even better._

Levy leaned down on her thighs to look them in the eye. "Well hello there Mr. Gen and Mr. Ben, my name's Levy McGarden and I'm going to help you with your magic." She smiled gently at them and offered her hand. After eyeing it warily Gen took it and eventually Ben did too. However, both backed away once Gajeel stepped up next to the Bookworm. He realised with amusement that the brats were even tinier than Shorty, who had over the last three years since his first...encounter with her, barely passed the 5 Foot mark. Their heads could make perfect armrests for her...gihi!

"What?" Levy turned and asked him, making him realise he laughed out loud. He quickly turned it into a cough and cleared his throat, turning back to the boys.

"Nothin'. Anyway brats, name's Gajeel Redfox, remember it well. 'Cause I'll be the one to make you big and strong." He held up his hand, palm out. "Now, punch my hand!"

"Gajeel!" Levy gasped, rounding on him.

"What? They're brats, they ain't gonna do much. Besides, my hand is softer than my fist."

There was a huff and their attention was drawn to a panting Ben, who was jumping up with his fist over his head - trying to hit Gajeel's hand. Biting his lips hard to keep in a bubble of laughter, Gajeel realised that he'd kept his hand far too high. Discreetly, he lowered it just as Ben tried thumping his own tiny fist against it and watched with amusement as the young boy whooped with joy once he got it. Ben's twin Gen simply rolled his eyes and held out his fist.

"Spellcaster: Air Blast!" he shouted, closing one eye and aiming for Gajeel's hand. A low hum started, before a small red magic circle -matching the colour of his tie - appeared on his fist and a concentrated ball of air the size of a tennis ball shot out and hit the middle of Gajeel's palm. It wasn't very strong, though his hand still reeled back slightly with the impact.

Ben gasped. "You did it!" he cried, throwing his arms around his brother's neck.

"I did!" Gen giggled, equally happy. For the first since they met him, a boyish grin stretched across his face as he hugged his twin back.

Gajeel smirked, amused at how happy they were about such a weak spell. Then again, the boy was small and probably didn't have much magic power. Resigned, he decided to praise the boy in his usual manner.

"Gihi! Good job Tiny #1!" None too gently, he patted the boy's head in the same way he usually patted everyone's head. "By the time we're finished with ya that spell will be even stronger!"

"Really?" the twins gasped.

"Gihi, of course!"

With a cry of glee the boys jumped on him, hugging his legs. Gajeel's ears turned red. "D-doesn't mean you can go touching me, stupid brats! G-get off!"

Levy's chuckle reached his ears and he spotted her, hands clasped over her mouth as she watched. "Oi! Little help?"

She smirked. "I think you're doing well on your own."

"Hmm I agree." The smug voice of Lily floated in as the feline swooped past a startled Amanda and landing in Levy's arms.

"Not you too!"

* * *

><p>The next day came quickly and Gajeel was bored out of his mind.<p>

He and Levy had decided to spend the first few days testing the boys on the magic power, to see how strong they were and for how long at a time they could use them. Levy had a 'Replenish' spell that helped refuel their energy again if it got too low.

So for most of the morning, Gajeel had watched two brats prance around in a garden, goofing off. In front of him, Levy stood exhausted and half-annoyed that the boys weren't doing the exercises as told.

The only thing they'd done so far was list was the twins knew so far about their magic: one spell. Otherwise, nothing.

Well, looks like it was time for him to step up.

"ALRIGHT BRATS!" Gajeel roared, effectively gaining not only the twin's attention, but Levy's, the gardeners AND just about every living thing within a mile radius' attention. He stood to his full height, towering over the boys as he neared their scared faces. "Playtime's over." he smirked evilly.

Ben and Gen glanced at each other and gulped.

* * *

><p>By the time 5 o'clock rolled around, both boys were too tired to be hungry.<p>

Seeing as they weren't getting anywhere in the magic department, Gajeel took the initiative to start the physical. For two hours straight, he made them do lunges and jumping jacks as a 'warm-up' before making them do sit-ups and push-ups. By the time that was finished, the boys were barefoot and down to their boxers for clothing, their backs glistening with sweat.

Oh, and Levy was taking part too.

After the initial shock of seeing the petite Mage strip off shirt -leaving her in a pretty little green bikini top, Gajeel had managed to stammer out that she didn't need to join in.

Levy disagreed and rather seriously told him that it would only be fair if she took part too; and besides, they both knew that Levy wanted to get stronger.

So, that made Gajeel join in too.

"I don't want you guys to feel like I'm torturing you guys for fun," he told the boys once he too stripped off his black shirt and rolled up the legs of his pants. Levy rolled her eyes while the boys giggled. Soon enough, all for of them were running laps, partnering up for _more_ sit-ups (Gajeel had the hardest time not staring at Levy's body; Levy didn't even try to hold Gajeel's legs down), pull-ups (Gajeel was too tall as the bars were designed for the kids and funnily enough Levy could use them as well) and more Calisthenics that the Dragon Slayer could think of.

After dragging themselves to the second dining room -the first was for family only, the second for long-term guests and the third for servants- Gajeel snickered at the face's of their four friends as they watched Levy drag herself to the nearest chair and almost face-plant into her food.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy gasped, rushing to the blunette.

"I'm fine Lu-chan," Levy waved her off. "Gajeel's just a tough trainer."

"What?" Lucy whipped around. "I thought you were supposed to be training the twins magic?"

"And combat training," Gajeel added, scowling. "And Shorty joined in; I didn't make her do shit."

"As if Gajeel could make me do anything," Levy giggled, getting up and flexing jokingly. "You see these babies? Got them working out today!"

Gajeel walked up behind her poked both of her sides, with a single finger. The reaction was instantaneous: Levy shrieked and her legs buckled involuntarily, making Gajeel swoop his arms under hers and lifting her up, sitting her on her chair.

"Eat yer food, Shortstack." Gajeel gihi'd and made his way to his own chair and starting eating.

Levy blushed, pouting.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow this took agessss.. -_- <strong>

**I'm sorry! **

**This is barely 2'000 words :( I never knew how hard it'd be to write in Gajeel's pov. Ugh.**

**Poll is open, you can vote for TWO options so if you want to decide what I should write next go vote! :P**

**Peace!**

**ex_oh_ex_oh ~K.**


End file.
